Three and a Half Laguz
by Pk Love Omega
Summary: In the aftermath of the war, a few survivors decide to incubate their children, sheltering them from the war-torn land. Upon awakening, the four become bandits. Will they find their heritage? And what's happening to Begnion?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **

**Hi~! It's Marciee. Yes, I'm not dead.  
>I hope you like this. ~<br>Review for a cookie. Chocolate or vanilla? ^^ **

**Some words by Smasher ~**

**So we've made another fanfic together :P This time it's on her profile. Read on! Oh by the way I'm Smasher. The-Keyblade-Bearer. ENJOY!**

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><p>"Are you sure this is correct? I've waited a century for this!" A pair of large eyes flicked to the speaker.<p>

"Over exaggeration." A second pair of eyes, black as the night, shifted to the second voice.

"Well, it feels like it. Again, I don't think this is right."

"They can handle themselves. If I can get her," the third talker chimed in, pointing to a fourth figure in the night, "to agree, then you can do it." A third pair of eyes trained on both figures standing together in the dim light of the abandoned house.

"Meanie!" The fourth spoke.

"Hey guys, I'm here. Sorry I'm late. Had to stop by the cloth market. Did you know Astrid works there now? She does it in her off time. Awesome." Came a fifth. This person dropped a small bundle next to the three already in the large bed.

"Well now you're here. Let's finish this already. It's best for my people not to know of this." The next person spoke up.

"Hey!" Came the second voice again.

"Calm down." Said the sixth.

"I don't even think what we did is legal." Spoke the third. "Anyway, are you sure you wanna do this?"

"I would gladly spend my life out here peacefully with them." A seventh voice finally spoke.

"Fine. Let her sing the stupid song so we can be done with it." The third gave in.

"It is not stupid! It took me three weeks to translate into Tellius language after I found it in the library!"

"Fine. Just sing it so we can go. I might change my mind- which I seldom do- if I have to look at those eyes a minute longer." The black eyes moved again.

"Here I go. Oh, I hope this is right." The fourth said in an angelic voice.

_Gather your courage._

_It will break the bonds of night._

_take wing, and dance upon the sky._

_take wing, and dance upon the sky._

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><p>Begnion had been in an uproar for a week. A local writer had decided to turn his book into an opera. Masses of people crowded into the square to watch the performance. The current apostle, Nella, was actually starring in the play. It involved two lovers who were from the same country but were separated during a war. Torches were lit, feast tables were spread everywhere, dancers danced, and Prince Rafiel had been flown in with Tibarn, Janaff, and Ulki just to sing. Leanne had been enveloped in her studies of life, and Reyson was always beside their father, who was almost back to prime health.<p>

All of this was lost on four figures that lurked just out of the torches' reaches. A pair of night black eyes glanced shiftily around, before targeting the backstage entrance, guarded by two huge Armor Swords. He signaled to one of his allies, and together they glanced at the obstacles. The one with the black eyes sighed, before addressing his friend.

"So, Mika. Whaddaya think about this?" He said, his unblinking eyes still staring at the two, who were obviously itching to join the fest. Mika closed her eyes, sighing inwardly, before replying,

"This is gonna be a problem. Too many witnesses and too tight of a security." She said. "So, bro. What do you plan on doing?" Mika said.

"I dunno. Ren, Lief, come 'ere." The two other figures ceased their conversation and walked over. A slight radiation lit up Ren's face, and he quickly stowed the source of it.

"So, I was thinking, when the play starts, the torches will be cut off. There'll be about a five to eight second interval between that and the lights on stage going on. That'll be when we make our _entrance_."

"But Lupi," piped up Ren. "How are we gonna get past the fat guys?"

"Shh…" Mika cooed. "We'll just sneak past them, as always. It's not like they can see us."

"Now," Lupi re-gathered their attention, "when we get in there, we'll not take too much. Maybe the odd bauble or so, but we've already got our target." He paused for dramatic effect. The three eyes glinted, and they all leaned in eagerly. Lupi pulled out an opalescent gem and lit a small match under it, casting out a white glare. "Set into the royal clothes of the apostle… The Formshift Diamond." The trio excitedly began to get ready for the mission. As she strapped on her fingerless glove, Mika couldn't help but remark:

"What if the guards attack?" Lupi smiled as if he had been expecting it.

"Then we attack back. Cummon, let's go now. It's about to start."

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><p>The lights were extinguished one by one, and four shadows moved silently through the moonlight with decades of practice. The two Armors were glancing expectantly at the stage, waiting for the lights to go on. Ren crawled between the two, and Lief jumped smoothly over them, landing with the sound of a feather. Lupi shifted past, and Mika barely made it as the blaze appeared on stage, the scene some type of battlefield.<p>

Inside the stage wasn't much. It was a jumble of backdrops and clothes. On the far side, the Apostle's booth sat. In between the four and the booth were twenty-odd cast members, all waiting for their turn to go on set. Mika nodded at Lief, and with a rustle he was in the air, leaping from clothes stand to clothes stand. He was halfway there when he slipped. He caught himself, fortunately. But it wasn't in the best way possible. Twenty one heads turned to see the torch-illuminated figure with huge wings flying halfway between the entrance and the Apostle's clothes.

Outside, the three actors were doing some large monologue scene. The band had died down. The soft words of the actor reached none of the startled actors. Lief flapped his wings a few times and smiled goofily.

"Hey."

All of the actors let out a unanimous scream. Lief turned to where the other three were, but they were gone. He turned back to see the huge Formshift Diamond shattered into four pieces. Lupi tossed one to him and burst out the entrance they came in. Mika jumped over the Armors who decided to check in, but all they got was a bunch of fainted ladies and angry men. Lief and Ren tip-toed out while they searched. Lief was about to carry Ren off when the rows of aligned archers changed his mind. Lief and Mika suddenly jumped back as walls of fire prevented their escape. A massive thunderbolt rained down, almost frying Ren.

"Holy mother of the desert, what was _THAT_?" Ren exclaimed while hiding behind Mika. The flames parted, as did the soldiers, and in walked none other than Apostle Nella, her hands and eyes aglow with energy.

"So, these are the Laguz bandits who've been terrorizing the capital of Begnion for 2 years? Guard, bring me the wanted poster."

She pointed to Lupi. "Ahh, you must be Lupi." She sized him up, before continuing to speak. "The wolf Laguz. Very shifty, with black hair. Black scarf. And that one red bang. Black vest. Long black pants. Seems to fit the description."

She walked over to Mika next. "Hmm… Cat Laguz. Headband that's always pulled over her long hair, which is a flamboyant orange. And might I say that is a lovely belt."

She bent down to the small kid standing behind Mika, and Mika out her hand back protectively. "Mhmm. Ren. Black hair. Blue robes. You're not a Laguz, but you travel with them anyway, don't you? You must be a branded. Hmm…" Ren glared back with bright orange eyes, not daring to speak. "That's some pretty rare silk, isn't it? You must've had nice parents." She reached out to touch the fabric, but Mika growled. Nella pulled back slightly, before smiling, remembering she was still in control of the situation.

"And finally, we have Lief. A raven, from the looks of it. Quite the looker for a bandit, I must say." She cooed appreciatively

"So what brings you here? Ahh, I already know. The Formshift Diamond. The fake one, right?" All three of the older Laguz didn't move, but the quick-leaving expressions of shock that registered on their faces was enough to prove her right. Ren clutched Mika's pants harder. She growled louder. Lupi clenched his fists. Lief spread his wings inch by inch. The guards that had gathered all pointed their weapons at the four. Lupi flicked his tail ever so slightly, unnoticeable unless you had been trained to look for it. He swished it three times, twice to the right and once upwards. Mika, Ren, and Lief all caught it. Lupi smiled as he heard the crowd roaring various insults at them.

"Look out apostle, there's a torch coming towards you."

"I would never fall for tha-" A guard fell to the ground behind Nella, writhing in agony as he was engulfed in flames. Nella turned to see the body, but only realized her mistake then. Lief was in the air, Ren clutched in his arms. Before they disappeared into the night, Ren reached into the folds of his clothes and threw some grass into the burning body of the guard. A thick smoke billowed around the group of soldiers. A loud growl issued forth from both Mika and Lupi as the smoke reached their bodies.

Nella had recovered, and was blasting Elfire after Elfire into the smoke as archers rained arrows upward. They only stopped when some of the arrows fell on the citizens and the others were flung back from the writhing smoke. Nella continued blasting Elfires into the smoke until the entire cloud was red instead of black. She stopped, breathing ever so slightly. She smiled with satisfaction. The smell of singed fur reached their noses, and all of the soldiers let their guard down. Mistake number two.

Mika was the first to pop out of the smoke, fire dangling on her tail. She struck out, lashing at the first guard with her tail. Her claws shot out, making her a landing pad out of two soldiers. She waved her tail out, and then dashed back behind the stage. The soldiers were torn. Fire had been crackling everywhere, and the people had to be evacuated, seeing as the stage and the seats had been set on fire. Half of the soldiers went to assist the elderly audience members. The other half was divided as well, three-fourths protecting the apostle from the arrows that continued to be returned from the sky, and the other fourth sent to pursue Mika. They were almost there when a black thunderbolt left a massive dent in the Marshall leading the force. All of them minus the crumpled Marshall stopped as Lupi roared his challenge to the winds.

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><p>Mika was currently having problems sniffing out the real diamond. She knew it had to be here, she just didn't know where to look. She was about to go look through the apostle's clothes for the third time, when they all burst into flames. She was reminded she was on the clock, and she turned away as the booth collapsed. She thought through the possibilities.<p>

_If I were the Formshift Diamond… I would be where someone would be least likely to look… Hrmmm…_

Suddenly she remembered that there was a peasant scene. She sprinted to the opposite side of the backstage, and began frantically digging through the pile of clothes. Her claw pinged off of something orange and shiny, and in no time she had unearthed the diamond. It was admittedly about twice the size of her hand, but it was still small enough to fit into her pouch. She slipped it in and bolted out of the area to the front again.

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><p>Mika arrived to see Lupi and the Apostle walled in by fire, half of her force incinerated or in heaps similar to the Marshall. Lupi was doing all he could to dodge the Apostle's ferocious offensive. Every time he got in close she would summon up more walls of fire to push him back. Tongues would lash out from the wall surrounding them to slice at Lupi. It was obvious that he was at a disadvantage. Without thinking, Mika jumped into the fight, just as Lupi saw his opportunity and sidestepped over the wall. In an effort to keep Lupi in, Nella rose her flames higher. Lupi made it out as Mika made it in, and both of them swapped positions, Mika being assaulted with flames and Lupi watching helplessly.<p>

The other guards had no care, knowing the Apostle had the upper hand. Flame after flame, Mika was driven ever closer to the wall. Suddenly the walls closed around the Apostle, and her yellow hair shone like the sun. Her robes billowed in the wind, and she rose her hand. From out of the sky came a Meteor, and it barreled towards Mika with no hope of stopping. Not even Nella was prepared for what happened next.

The Meteor suddenly stopped, as if contemplating what to do, before it turned and ran back into the sky. The walls of flame were suddenly much lower, though the Apostle showed no signs of weakness and used all of her might to push them back up. She glanced towards the top of the burning building, and Mika's eyes followed. There, on top of the building, was a shadowed figure. His hair waved wildly in the wind. His hands were outstretched, and it was obvious he was the one who was ruining Nella's performance. Mika didn't stop to question it. She nodded her thanks, jumped over to meet Lupi, and the two dashed off into the night, the caw of a raven alerting everyone that Lief was still there. Nella turned to the rooftop figure, but he was gone. Nella breathed calmly. A soldier walked up to her, and before he could speak, she said "Don't give chase. Clean this up." She waved her hand sideways, and a wind picked up the flames and pushed them into the sky.

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><p>The next day<p>

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><p>Ren yawned, and stretched out. He waited a few minutes before standing up and walking out of his room. He walked into the kitchen, breaking out the massive supply of vegetables they had harvested from outside of the desert. He made a salad and brought it to the roof of the fort, which had apparently been used by King Pelleas before he was royalty, when Daein and Begnion were at war. The four bandits had been living there since as long as they could remember. Ren watched the sky, wishing he could fly like Lief. Or was as strong as Lupi. Or maybe as fast as Mika. He sighed inwardly. For now, he would practice as hard as he could to be of use. He finished his salad off and walked back down to the bottom.<p>

When he reached his room, Mika was making his bed. Instead of her normal outage clothes, she wore robes that shimmered softly every time she moved. Ren had been exhausted and was still in his silken robes.

"Mika, have you seen my Dentan?" Ren said, referring to his specialized training weapon. Mika looked up from straightening the cloth long enough to point to the training room.

"Thanks." He said before dashing out of the room. On the way he met Lief.

"Hey. Mornin', Ren." Lief greeted. He was munching on some bread and fish, humming a tune to himself. Music was the one thing Lief loved as much as flying.

"I'm going to training. Would you join me?" Ren said, hoping for his favorite training partner to join him.

"Sure, why not?" Lief shoved the rest of his bread in his mouth and joined Ren. They passed Lupi, who was busy in his room studying the letters his parents had left him. This reminded Lief of something.

"Hey, Ren! Your next letter is scheduled to be read today!" Ren was immediately perked up, pulling Lief towards the training room.

"Hurry, brother! Let us train quickly!" Ren huffed. Lief oblidged and began to glide down into the basement, where a large room had been cleared in order to make an area suitable for training. As Mika had said, Ren's small blade was on the rack immediately to the left of the door. As he lifted it relatively easily, Lief picked up a large bag of Olivi grass meant only for training. The grass grew in the cavern naturally, so they were never short on grass.

Ren strapped on a metal breastplate, and Lief put on two leg braces. Ren put his blade out in front of him, and Lief cawed as he transformed. Ren started off by thrusting towards the black bird, but Lief was abnormally fast, even for a Raven. He caught the blade and tried to lift it out of Ren's hand. Ren retaliated by doing a pull up of sorts, kicking Lief in the chest. Lief was pushed away from Ren, but he was fast enough to get a slash at Ren on his chest. Though there were no cuts, Ren was thrown off his feet. He dropped his blade, did a backflip, and picked it up all in the same motion. Before he had landed, Lief had grabbed his arms. Lief put his beak on Ren's neck, and whipped it to the right, creating a small cut. This signified that Ren had been "killed". Ren slumped over slightly, before pointing to Lief's chest. Lief looked down and saw three similar cuts on his torso. Lief was astonished at Ren's speed.

They retired for the day, and as soon as Ren was put down he ran to Lupi's room. The door was closed. Before Ren could knock, Lupi shoved two letters out from the door. One was the letter from Ren's parents to be opened on that very day, and the second was a note from Lupi saying _Put the breast plate and the sword back before you open this._

After Ren had done this, he, Mika and Lief were in Ren's room, and Ren was slicing the letter open. He read it outloud.

_Dear Ren,_

_This is your mother._

That was odd. Every letter he had received was from his mother. Maybe his dad was a military officer or something! The thought excited him, and he continued to read.

_Let me explain something. All of your brothers and your sister are destined for great things. Ren. You must travel to the Serenes forest. There you will be directed to another person. I'm not yet sure where he is, but I do know he is someone who travels a lot. You will find his whereabouts there. Make haste, young one. And remember, I love you._

The letter ended there. Ren shook he envelope, and was rewarded with a blue gem. Ren began to tear up at the thought of never seeing his only family again. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Mika stood, ashen faced, beside him. Lief sighed over and over again, obviously frustrated. Mika was suddenly angry. She charged to Lupi's room.

"LUPI! YOUR LITTLE BROTHER IS ABOUT TO BE GONE FOREVER! CAN'T YOU AT LEAST SAY GOODBYE?" Mika screeched at the door. The door opened. Lupi walked out, holding four large bags. He walked to Ren's room, and Mika followed. Once Lupi reached the room, he gave Ren a bag, Lief a bag, Mika a bag, and kept one for himself. Before anyone could ask, Lupi dropped his latest letter on the floor.

_Lupi._

_I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Mother loves you (sort of). And so do your brothers and sister. Never split up. Share your journeys. Bye now._

Everyone looked up to Lupi. He smiled.

**_"So, are we going or not?"_**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:  
>Thanks for reviewing. c: You guys are amazingful. <strong>

**Who would be your favorite character so far? **

**Oh yeah~. I can't express how much I hate One Direction right now. After being tortured with them at school for 3 hours, I don't know what to think D;**

**Crap, I'm rambling. Anyways, drop a review, click that little button, and make my world better. ^^**

**Smasher here. For all intents and purposes, all ancient language will be translated as Latin. Thanks :D  
>Disclaimer- We own everything.<br>REAL Disclaimer- We don't own anything but a handful of characters.  
><strong>**Read now!**

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><p>"I can swing mah sword, sword! I can swing my sword, sword!" Ren cheered happily as he walked briskly, flailing his sword everywhere. "Because I am the lord, lord! The lord of swinging swords, swords! Lupi walked beside him, dodging his sword and staring intently at the map, a burlap sack slung across his back. Mika was munching on some bread, and Lief was humming a random tune.<p>

"So we'll have to travel through Daein,"

"MIKA!" Ren said.  
>"…then the border of Crimea, and we'll be able to get to Gallia later."<p>

"Mika!"

"We'll have to go through Talrega first. Oh, guess what?"

"Mika!

"Queen Micaiah is there for the summer. What a weirdo."

"Mika!" Ren called.

"WHAT!" She finally screamed.

"People are up ahead! They're wearing red! Hey that rhymed!" Lupi, Lief, and Mika looked up to see that Ren was waving his sword excitedly at a large group of Begnion soldiers. They were advancing through the desert as fast as they could. Nella wasn't at the head, but it was obvious she had ordered the charge.

"Okay Ren, time to put that sword to use. There are only about twenty of them. We should be able to take them."

It was then that a huge ball of fire separated Mika and Lupi from Ren and Lief. A blast of wind pushed him towards a group of archers, and a huge bolt of lightning made Ren's skin curdle. He wasn't a very fearful kid, but lightning scared him to the bone. It was astonishing they knew so much about him. Ren turned around and ran. He didn't even think.

Lupi turned to see Ren disappear over the dunes, before turning, growling primally. Mika was already snapping necks and clawing faces. Lief was like a flying knife, his metal-tipped wings making him slow but a deadly Laguz. Lupi found himself surrounded while he thought. Suddenly someone was standing behind him. He could see from his opponent's faces that the new arrival wasn't supposed to be there. Before he could turn around, a circular blast of wind pulsed out, and all the surrounding soldiers were hurled to the ground. Lupi half turned, and saw a bandaged face with long black hair. An eye pierced him for a second, and Lupi was speechless.

A gust of wind kicked up sand, and the man seemingly disappeared, along with the tension. Lupi was still un-transformed. Mika and Lief stalked up to him, purring and cawing to get his attention. Lupi was looking after the gust of wind as it moved across the dunes.

"Thank you." He breathed.

Ren was lost. It was all a sea of sand to him; he didn't know where to go. He suddenly tripped over a root. Ren stayed on the ground, watching the dunes and sky meld into each other. Suddenly, he heard a shifting noise. Someone was walking to him.

"Go 'way." He muttered. "Let a branded die, it's what you want, isn't it?" Whoever it was sniffed, obviously in contempt. He kicked Ren in the ribs, before walking away. Ren was about to get up and hurl his sword at whomever it was, but he realized the person was gone. Next to him was a cup. He looked in the cup and saw a leaf pointing in a direction. Even when the wind spun it, it remained pointing in one direction.

"North…" Ren realized. He knew that Talrega was West of where they were. So he ran West, but not before picking up the cup.

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><p>Lief had been sent to find Ren while Mika and Lupi continued on to Talrega, much to Mika's distress.<p>

"NOOO!" Mika rushed out as Lupi half-carried half-dragged her across the desert.

"Lief will handle it. Plus, Ren's got a sword. And who would be in this desert? Calm down." Lupi reassured her. Again.

"But… but… Ahh, I got nothing." Mika said, still refusing to budge. Lupi finally got tired and shifted, sprinting across the desert. Lupi ran to the top of a dune, and as the sun dipped behind the clouds, and finally under the mountains, Lupi howled. Mika growled at him softly, but he howled louder. He was halfway down the hill when another howl rang out, somewhere far across the desert. A second howl joined this howl, and the two howls intermingled, producing a melodious tune. Lupi howled back, before excitedly whipping down the mountain.

Mika finally at up and looked ahead. "Yeah yeah, more wolves. Now shut up and run." Lupi half-heartedly growled, but he was too happy to be disheartened. He sped up, making Mika instinctively clutch his fur. Lupi tripped at the sudden pain, and fell over, throwing Mika from his back. She grabbed blindly, and caught something. A snap was heard, and Mika yelled as a small black note slapped into her face. She couldn't see in the dim moonlight, so she put it in Lupi's pouch and got back onto his back.

"Giddy up." She said. Lupi growled, before again setting off, this time at a slow jog. After a few minutes, desert began to give way to grass, and grass turned into trees.

Mika's eyes began to flutter. She yawned, and pulled her headband over her eyes. She leaned forward, and before she knew it she was waking up in a bedroom. Lupi lay on another bed in the room, facing the wall. Ren was sleeping draped between the two beds, and Lief was perched in between the rafters, snoring lightly. Mika quietly got out of bed. She walked towards Lupi, and waved her hand in front of his eyes. Asleep. She looked up, seeing Lief asleep. She looked over at Ren. Knocked out.

Mika put on a hoodie and some jeans, and walked out the door. She was in a hallway. They must've been in an inn. She ran down the hall, and saw a crude exit sign. Great. A cheap hotel.

"Damnit, Lupi. You're so stingy." She said in digust. She ran out of the door, unaware that a shadow was following her.

Mika ran down the streets, exploring the city. It turned out that Lupi had run all the way to Talrega in one night, with Lief carrying Ren with him. All three of them should've been exhausted. She jogged in one direction until she heard talking. There was an open air market up ahead. Mika was a little hungry. She was sure there was food in the cities that couldn't be found in the desert or grown underground. The first thing that caught her eye was a plump golden fruit. She dropped a coin on the table and swiped the fruit away. She munched thoughtfully on the fruit, enjoying its sweetness, when out of the corner of her eye she caught someone staring at her.

She began to chew a little faster, and she frequently took random turns down the aisles. The person still followed at a safe distance. She was starting to panic a little. She took a nervous glance backwards, and saw something she didn't want to see. At all. The persons eyes were identical to hers. The person's eyes opened wide after being discovered, and then he face-palmed at making such a big mistake. Before Mika could give chase, he had shimmied up a roof and disappeared.

Mika wasn't about to let him get away. She climbed up with agility only a Laguz could muster, and looked around before seeing the person running away a few houses down the block. She growled, and took off after. Mika was gaining because whoever it was didn't seem to know where they were, taking several glances down every side street. Mika followed him/her down a dead end. The person backed up against a wall. Before Mika could speak, a feathery canon dropped down from the sky.

"Mika, where have you been?" Lief spoke.

"Lief? No, DAMMIT!" She screamed as the person disappeared over the wall. "Grr.. Fine." She said, raising her arms so Lief could carry her back to the inn.

Ren was up, polishing his sword. Lupi was eating some soup. Lief flew into the window, holding a very unhappy Mika.

"What do you want?" Mika spat.

"We've gotta go. We'll say hi to Micaiah and then move over to Crimea. Gallia is almost there." Lief said while he slipped on a white cap.

"You really think she'd let us see her?" Ren asked while he sheathed his blade.

"Well she really does hate her niece, so I assume if we mentioned we were Begnion's most wanted." Lupi added.

"I guess." Ren.

"Let's go, guys." Mika said. "We've gotta get to that summer home." Lief tucked his wings under a flowing robe. Ren threw on a cloak, concealing the sword he carried. Mika put on a beanie, hiding her ears. She wrapped her tail around her waist, putting on a shirt over it. Lupi's naturally spiky hair was already concealing his ears. He had trouble putting on a black vest and baggy pants. His tail was stuffed all the way down the pants. He pulled his red bang down for reassurance, and threw the door open. Mika and Ren followed, and Lief closed the door.

* * *

><p>The four walked through the lobby. They were halfway to the door when the clerk called:<p>

"Hey, you've gotta pay for your room." Lupi turned back, his midnight eyes hardening.

"No I don't." He ground out.

"Uhh, yeah, you do. Idiot." The clerk mumbled. Lupi turned around. The door closed behind Mika, Lief and Ren.

Lief jumped as Lupi walked up behind him.

"What happened?" Lief said. Lupi paused to lick something from his chin, before turning to address Lief.

"I got a special 200% discount." Lupi deadpanned. Lief shivered. Lupi dropped a few coins in Ren's pouch.

"Thanks, bro!"

"Go buy something nice with Mika while Lief and I meet Micaiah." Ren nodded eagerly. Ren took off, yelling something about forging swords, and Mika followed, pointedly giving him a stare. Lupi ignored it and walked down the street to the slightly larger than average house fenced in and crawling with soldiers. Lupi walked up to the gate, and a soldier stopped them.

"Nobody comes in without permission." The soldier recited.

"We're here from Begnion." Lupi said. The guards literally pushed them through the door into the room, muttering 'she'll murder them' and 'what kind of apostle sends messengers to be killed'.

The door was locked, and shades were drawn over the windows. A middle-aged woman sat on a rocking-chair, whispering to her eternal companion bird, Yune. Her silver locks shone with unrefined light, draping over her hair. Her hand grasped her purple robe harder as Lupi and Lief neared.

"Visitors… Don't get many of those." She whispered.

"Hey, uhh, Queen Miciah?" Micaiah looked up sharply, and Lupi jumped, knowing she was one of the most powerful sages alive. She glared at Lupi, staring hardly at his face, trying to summon up some memory, trying to identify him, before she gave up and went back to reading the Thani tome she had in her hand, memorizing its spells.

"It's just another one, Micaiah. Sothe is long gone. They all are." Lupi raised his eyebrow.

"Listen, what're you doing here? Why aren't you taking care of Daein?" Lief asked softly.

"Keith can take care of Daein… He looks so much like his father…" She said to no one in particular.

"Aren't you going to kill us?" Lief said. Micaiah looked up as if noticing him for the first time.

"There's no reason to kill a Laguz." Micaiah laughed. Lief was startled. He thought he was pretty good at disguising himself. "Go away."

Lief breathed in sharply, before singing a song he had been taught by an old crow. The old man's words rang in his head.

_Whenever someone is in distress, sing this song. Don't ask why, just sing. It's your gift, Lief._

_**Infinitas dolor et malus**_

_**Corda sopitos iterum,**_

_**Sidera constringitur in eorum loco:**_

_**Tenebris involucris in terra.**_

_**Sed effundendum sanguinem**_

_**a spes glimmers caligaverunt.**_

_**speculum in aqua.**_

_**clam venti.**_

_**Congregabo animi.**_

_**Ea nocte abrumpat.**_

_**volite, et saltare super caelum.**_

_**volite, et saltare super caelum.**_

Micaiah catapulted out of her chair, grabbing Lief's shoulders.

"WHO TAUGHT YOU THAT SONG? WHO!" She screamed in his face. Lief was stunned. Lupi was staring intently at the bird that had landed on his hand.

"Umm… Some old dude?" Micaiah continued shaking him, though she said nothing. It was as if she was choking to get the words out. She stopped, and sank to the ground. As soon as it started, she was up, and she pressed something into Lief's hand. She pushed him out.

"Yune, come." The bird hopped from Lupi to Micaiah. She ran out. Lupi and Lief snuck out the back to the words of the soldiers who had entered:

"She didn't even leave any this time. She must've been angry."

* * *

><p>Ren was having a blast. He had bought a new sheath and a 'professional sword-handler's glove'. Mika and he were at a restaurant. Mika had ordered some sort of fish, while Ren asked for chicken soup. As they waited for the food, Mika and Ren were pointing out everything that was different from what they had in the desert. Which was, literally, <em>everything. <em>Ren was currently gushing about how the birds seemed happier there. The food arrived, and Ren dove in. Mika absentmindedly ate some of her fish, then she stood up and declared,

"I have to go." Ren nodded as he came out of his bucket for air. Mika walked to the bar and ordered a smoothie. She sipped it nonchalantly, before going into her wallet. She upturned her wallet, in order to pay for their meal. She waited for the coins to spill out. Nothing. Mika began to sweat then. She could try to escape, risking their wanted status in Daein too. Or she could beg for money. Before she could yell at Ren to run, a stranger wearing a deep purple hood and black pants paid for her drink, an extra drink for her, and their entire meal. Mika noticed something. He smelled like charred wood.

"You're that man from the building, aren't you?" The man nodded.

"Thanks, a bunch. We really couldn't have done it without you." The man nodded, before pointing to Ren. "Oh, right. We should be going." The man followed her. "I really don't need your help anymore…" She said.

"Oh, but I insist. If only to see you home." The man said. She thought on this. She had never been in a city. A little free protection couldn't hurt.

"Well, if you want. Can I at least have your name?" The man brooded for a second, before replying.

"Saleh." Mika introduced Ren to Saleh, and the three walked back to the inn.

* * *

><p>A lone ship sailed throughout the night.<p>

"Urrrrr…" The moan reverberated throughout the ship.

Heavy footsteps thudded and chains swished. "No… NO… NO!"

A cage slammed shut. A snap occurred.

Some crunching noises. A slash.

Something that looked vaguely like a mangled human fell overboard.

"HSSSS!" A large needle spiked through flesh. Fruit punch splattered on the wall. Only it wasn't fruit punch.

More snapping occurred. A belch. Someone screamed. A human threw himself over board, bursting with thousands of baby spiders halfway down.

"_AARGGGH!"_

A lone ship sailed throughout the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

**Hey, guys ~! Marcie here. Did you guys like the gruesomeness that was in the previous chapter? I sure did. :3**

**Disclaimer is in Chapter 2. Leave me alone Nintendo. In the last chapter, STUFF HAPPENED. Read at your own risk. :D**

Mika stood at the inn's door. Ren walked into the door, holding the wooden room key. Saleh stood next to her. Mika turned.

"Well, thanks for your company. I can take care of myself." Saleh nodded. He held his hand out. Mika tentatively stuck her hand out, expecting a handshake. Saleh dropped something into her hand. Mika looked down and saw a silken bag, no bigger than a dove. She peered into the bag. Three cookies. One cat, one wolf, one raven. She looked up, but Saleh was gone. Mika looked around, before eating her cookie and walking in.

Mika looked at the clerk. The clerk jumped, before throwing 10 coins at her and hiding.

"Just go… Don't hurt me!"

When she got to the room, she was met with a loud thump and Ren's screech. She ran into the room, ready to tear someone's eyes out, when the sight she saw made her giggle. Lief was holding Ren upside down in midair while Lupi used one of Lief's feathers to tickle Ren. Ren was screeching uncontrollably while Lupi mercilessly tickled him with the long black feather. Mika stood there for a second, before coming to Ren's aid. She jumped, vaulting off of the bed, tackling Lief from the air. Ren did a flip, before landing behind Lupi. Lupi lashed out with his tail, which Ren caught and flipped, throwing Lupi to the ground.

Mika pulled Lief down from the air again with her tail, which Lief responded with by shaking a feather into her ear. She fell to the ground in ticklish laughter, and Lief swooped in and picked her up. Mika turned on him, folding his wings. They plummeted to the bed, Mika sitting on Lief's back with his wings outstretched.

Lupi swept out again with his tail, this time tripping Ren. Lupi pounched on Ren, catching him in a headlock. Lupi looked onto the bed where Mika sat on Lief, threatening to tickle him. Lupi had his hand hovering over Ren's head, threatening to give him one wicked noogie. They glared at each other, each captive praying their savior would make the right choice. Mika glared for a second, before bursting into laughter, falling off of the bed. Lupi allowed himself a grin and a few giggles, falling to the ground. Lief was pulled down with Marcie, and Ren lay down. They were all sprawled out across the floor, looking at the celing.

"What now, coach?" Mika asked Lupi.

"Eh, well, we could pay extra for a Wyvern trip as far as Crimea. Who's up for it?"

"I do! I've always loved Wyverns. Remember that time wh-"

"Yes, we all remember the time the Wyvern rider from Hatari crashed landed on my room. As I slept in it." Lief responded.

"I guess. It'd save time." Mika said.

"Well, I suppose we cou-*yawn*-ld dish out the extra money. But we'd have less food luxury. And inn luxury."

"You call this luxury?" Mika said, pointing to huge hole in the wall barely covered up by a picture. They all laughed a little.

"Camping?" Ren said. Lupi, Lief, and Mika stood up. Lief picked Ren up, and Mika and Lupi ripped the covers from the bed. In seconds the floor was swathed in covers. Lief put Ren down before laying on the covers. Lupi and Mika lay down. Lupi wrapped his tail around himself and Lief covered himself with his wings. Mika purred softly and curled up. Ren snuggled into the covers. The four of them, feeling completely safe, went to sleep. The flickering torches gathering at the edges of Talrega indicated otherwise.

Mika was floating through a sea of clouds. She was able to transform at will. She continued shifting, feeling her blood pump through her veins. All of a sudden, she was grounded. Lief, Lupi, and Ren all stood by wearing the fanciest clothes she had ever seen. They were standing on the side of some golden pathway. Mika looked around. She was urged onto the path by Lupi. Ren smiled cheerily to her. She walked down the path, and it began to glow. She saw the cloaked figure at the end of the path. She began to run. The cloaked figure waited for her. She was just about to reach it when all of a sudden, she fell. She was falling, falling, ever falling. She closed her eyes, but was suddenly caught by someone.

"Are you okay Mika?" Mika snuggled into the person's grip.

"Mika, get up." Mika struggled to get up.

"Get up! Mika!" Mika opened her eyes. Everything was red and black. Someone was screaming at her.

"MIKA!" An unfamiliar voice roared into her face. She made out black locks hanging around her. She blinked a few times. The person moved from her view in order to look down from the roof. _Wait, the roof?_ How did she get up here? Mika looked around. The entire city was burning. There was shouting coming from below. The figure stood at the edge of the roof.

"Who… Are you?" Mika said, and then she coughed. Smoke was everywhere. The person turned around.

"Saleh." Mika was surprised.

"REN! LIEF! LUPI! Where are they!" Mika screeched. She nearly threw herself from the roof. An arm reached out from Saleh's cloak and caught her. "LET ME GO! I HAVE TO FIND THEM!" Saleh shook his head and pointed to the opposite roof. Lupi, Lief, and Ren all waved back, Lupi and Lief being almost invisible in the night and smoke. Ren's eyes glowed bright orange in the firelight.

"Guys! I'm over *cough* here!"

"They know. Save your breath." Saleh advised.

"Hmp. What's going on?" Mika asked.

"Nella is looking for you four." Saleh responded.

"But why? Don't answer that." She said. "Now, why are you here?"

"Beca-" Saleh leaped towards her. Mika nearly shrieked, but Saleh pulled her to the ground, knocking the wind from her. She suddenly felt very warm. Saleh's strong arms enveloped her, and she was lulled into security. She purred softly, before realizing she was near becoming a human torch. Saleh leaped from her, and in seconds his hand were enveloped in an absurd amount of lightning. The lightning shot outward and over Mika, exploding as it reached the two fire mages who had appeared on the roof.

"You saved my life…" Mika realized.

"No time for a 'thank you'. Let's get moving." Saleh leaped towards her, and picked her up like a baby. Saleh nodded to the other three Laguz, and they moved to the western edge of Talrega.

Saleh softly put Mika on the ground. She wouldn't admit it, but she sort of missed being encased in the silk folds of his robe.

"We've got to get going." Saleh addressed Lupi.

"Woah, woah. WE? You saved our lives, thanks for that, but I barely even know you." Lupi growled.

"Well allow me to change that." Saleh made an elaborate bow. "My name is Saleh. I'm a traveler. Not from around here."

"Well then, where are you from? Hatari? Begnion? Crimea?" Ren rattled off names.

"Not from around _Tellius."_ Saleh elaborated.

"Ooh…" Mika crooned. She was beginning to admire Saleh.

"Yes. Now let's get moving." Saleh insisted.

"I'm not going anywhere until you prove you aren't going to kill us." Lief stated.

"Fine by me." Saleh looked at Mika. "Show them the cookies." Mika suddenly remembered she had a silk pouch in her small bag around her waist. She produced it, and gave it to Lupi. Lupi pulled out the wolf one, and it gasped. It was an exact replica of himself, down to his single bang and extremely bushy wolf-form tail. He looked up, glaring, before challenging:

"I thought you weren't from around here."

"I do research." Saleh smiled. Lupi was beaten at his own game.

"Keep up." Lupi shifted, dashing through the trees towards the mountains. Lief sprang through the air, holding Ren. Mika hesitated, and then turned to Saleh.

"Hurry." She dashed away after them. Saleh smiled.

"I will." He whispered to himself. He lept after them.

Lupi made it to the bottom of the mountain in Crimea, gasping for air. They had been moving for at least three hours at top speed. Mika made it behind him, collapsing from her Laguz form in seconds. Lief made it then, almost dropping Ren onto the rocks. He instead managed to slide to a stop, protecting Ren from the rocks and earning a few cuts.

"Well, I guess he couldn't keep up…" Lupi gasped between breaths. Mika's brow furrowed in sorrow, when a voice rang out.

"Yeah, he is really late. I wonder where he is." Saleh's voice boomed from a tree.

"How…" Lief wheezed.

"Advanced wind magic can increase speed beyond imagining. Learned that from a friend. So, where to now?" Saleh smiled.

"We'll rest here." Lupi gulped in air greedily.

"Fine by me." Saleh said. There was a slight rustling, and Saleh dropped to the ground holding a blanket. He spread it on the ground, and quickly fell asleep. The other three were too exhausted to pull anything out, instead choosing to find the least rocky part of ground in the area, lighting a fire, and falling asleep.

Lief woke to the smell of cooking. He turned to see Saleh crouched over a fire, without a hood and bandages on. Saleh turned to him, his long black locks shaking. Lief gasped. Saleh remained motionless, dropping something onto the fish.

"That's one big scar…" Lief breathed.

"Yeah. I know." Saleh replied nonchalantly. He reached over to his right, and in seconds his face was perfectly re-bandaged. Lief flapped multiple times, gaining enough height to see a river a few kilometers west of where they were. He returned to the ground to look over Saleh's shoulder. Saleh was reaching into a large pack filled with exotic spices. Saleh saw Lief's questioning look.

"Well, if I'm gonna travel, I'm gonna do it in style, am I right?" Lief shrugged and then went over to wake Lupi up. He got near and Lupi sat up, ears twitching and tail wagging back and forth. He seemed to be having a good dream. He calmed down in a few seconds.

"Do I smell fish?" Lupi asked as he threw a bag at Ren, earning a disgruntled complaint from the latter.

"Chef Saleh over there is cooking up something." Lief responded, dodging the misaimed bag and wincing as it hit Mika. Mika vaulted up, danger glinting in her eye.

"WHO… THREW… IT?" Mika growled. Everyone pointed at Lupi by default.

"Wait, what?" Lupi recoiled. Mika charged forth, a string of half-awake curses issuing from her mouth. Lupi ran through the camp, growling at Ren and Lief as they laughed ridiculously. Lupi ran by a bush, and all of a sudden he was tackled to the ground. Lupi gasped in shock, then recoiled by attempting to throw the beast off. Mika was racing towards him, and pounced, transforming in half flight. She would've snapped the tiger's neck if it weren't for the cat that had appeared from the bush. Lupi transformed, gaining enough strength to twist and kick the tiger off of him. Lief and Ren were there in an instant. Ren's sword was pointed at the tiger's neck, and Lief would've picked up the cat had Mika not been tangled in with it. The two both had orange fur, so it was hard to discern them from each other. Eventually Mika came out on top with her fangs bared. All four of the currently transformed Laguz reverted.

"Who are you?" Mika growled at the cat.

"My name is Lyre, and you are trespassing on Crimean grounds!"

"What do you mean trespassing?" Lupi roared. "Last time I checked it was legal for a traveler to move between countries!" Lyre seemed to consider this, before addressing her counterpart, a large man with blue hair.

"What do you think, Mordecai?"

"It's your fault." Mordecai pointed at Lyre. "You want Mordecai to fight. Mordecai never wanted to fight again." Lyre frowned, indicating it was true. Mika got off of Lyre, who dusted herself off and huffed. Ren lowered his sword, and Lupi stopped growling. Through it all, Saleh had continued to cook the fish.

"Well, are you going to come or not?" Lyre said. This earned a few confused looks. She sighed. "We're going to be your escorts to Crimea!" Lupi frowned.

"We're trying to get to Gallia, so we won't be in Crimea for too long."

"Oh, really? I'd love to go to Gallia again! I haven't seen my sister in forever!" Lyre cooed. Mordecai lifted Lyre onto his shoulders.

"Let us go." He said. Saleh distributed the fish, and they were off. Mika adjusted her headband a little, and noticed that Lyre was staring at her. She shuffled awkwardly and continued walking through the forest. They stopped by the river, and Lyre finally took her eyes off of Mika. She held a hushed conversation with Mordecai, who looked over once, before they returned to the group.

"We're sorry, but we have to… Go. Bye now!" Before anyone could ask, Lyre and Mordecai had charged through the river and disappeared into the woods on the other side.

Mika was near giving chase, but Lupi held her back.

"We've got to get to Castle Gallia. Don't forget." Mika easily gave up, instead snatching the map from Lupi.

"To the southwest is Ohma! We'll go there!" Mika declared. Everyone agreed that Ohma would be a good destination.

"Hopefully we'll get some answers now…" Lief mused. Everyone packed up, and they all went southwest, still wondering what had caused Lyre's sudden flight.

Upon reaching Ohma, everyone realized why it was so small on the map. Ohma was hardly twenty kilometers wide, and even then there were next to no buildings. Except for two medium sized houses in the middle of town. Saleh led them to the house in order to meet its owners. They were Felix, grandson of Nephenee and Aran; and Mallory, granddaughter of Meg and Zihark. The two were like siblings, using their grandparent's massive amount of money to attempt to bring Ohma to a greater status. It wasn't exactly working. Mallory and Felix, who were in their late teens, greeted the new arrivals warmly.

"We don't get many Laguz. Actually, we've only gotten one. That was King Naesala." Mallory stated.

"You guys should really get going." Felix said while holding bags of provisions for them.

"We've been here for only a few minutes? Why are you trying to get us out?" Felix glanced shiftily around, before handing the four a wanted poster. It showed a crude drawing of the five of them, with Saleh shooting laser beams. There was a bounty on their heads that could buy a second Ohma. Felix and Mallory were trying to get them out so the inhabitants of the city wouldn't turn them in. They nodded, before fleeing the city southward.

"Here we are." Mika said nervously.

"First step in Gallia… Together." Lupi said. They all lined up, and took one huge leap into the estate. Not even a second later a massive crimson lion pinned the four of them to the ground. Fangs bared, the lion swung a heavy paw as Lupi mumbled:

"Déjà vu…"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello, happy peoples, how've you been? Keep sending in those reviews and stuff, it really does make my day, I love reading em ~! Haha, love you guys. **

**Ugh… I'm being forced to slave over these chapters… Well enjoy my entire weekend translated into fanfiction! Disclaimer: I own everything that the light touches… You'll see ;)**

"Déjà vu.."

The heavy paw came down with a swing long enough to send all four laguz flying. Ren collided with Mika in midair, knocking both out cold. Lupi was smashed into a bush. He was near getting up when he looked about three inches to the left to see a huge wasp nest. He decided not to move. Lief recovered in the air, his large black wings opening with a soft swish. The lion growled at him, but Lief stayed out of range.

"What the heck?" Saleh forced out before the lion charged him. He leapt backwards, blasting out a fireball. This caused the Laguz to revert, but something glowed in his pocket and he re-transformed. Lief gasped, before realizing he had his own Formshift Diamond.

In a glowing burst of black energy, a raven angrily cawed and dive-bombed the lion. Occupied by the fire, the lion was caught off guard. Lief blasted into him, though all he managed to do was knock the lion off of his feet. The beast was quick to jump to its feet, stamping out the flames and pouncing at Saleh. Saleh spun to the right, grabbing the lion's mane and swinging, bringing the lion to the ground a second time. The lion pounced again, but this time Saleh jumped, kicking downwards and pummeling the lion into the ground. Lief was there then, pecking and scratching. Through all the gashes on his back, the lion doggedly continued to attack. Saleh finally called down a thunderbolt, ending the fight. The lion untransformed, hitting the ground hard. He was middle aged, and extremely buff, even for a lion laguz. He reached into his pocket, but his pockets turned up empty.

"Gallia… I've failed you…" The lion said defeatedly. He fell over, nearly blacking out. Saleh was at his side in seconds, spoon feeding elixir to the fainted lion.

"Damnit, Lief, do you know what you just did?"

"No."

"You just took down the king of Gallia."

"Shiiiiiii-"

"Bro, I hate to interrupt you, but if you could SAVE ME, I'd be eternally grateful." Lief transformed, and picked up the nest, throwing it into the air. The insects scattered into the air, and Lief was amongst them, beak clacking as he snacked on the insects.

"Ew…." Lupi snarled as he removed himself from the wasp-free branches. He immediately was at Ren's side, Saleh at Mika's. Saleh tilted the elixier bottle to Mika's lips, and the bottle emptied. Mika smacked her lips, opened her eyes, and mumbled:

"Bonum mane, Lorem." Saleh tilted an eyelid, as did Lupi and Lief.

"Ren… REN!" She yelled loudly. The branded boy smiled weakly at her. His blue silk robes were drenched in red.

"B… Bonum ma-ne, Mater." Ren choked on nothing.

"Sunt vobis bene?" Mika asked tearily.

"He'll be fine as long as we get him to the castle on time." A gruff voice answered. Mika looked to the lion, before realizing she was standing in front of the second strongest royal Laguz alive.

"Beast King Skirmir… Sorry." Mika apologized. Both she and Lupi dropped to one knee in respect for the beast king. Lupi got up first, being of the wolf tribe. Mika waited until Skirmir tapped her shoulder to get up. Lief landed then, picking insect wings from his feathers.

"Let's get going. You, boy. Give me my diamond back." Skirmir pointed at Saleh.

"My name is Saleh." He handed Skirmir the diamond.

"Your voice… It is familiar…" Skirmir said.

"You must be mistaken. I have never come to Tellius in my travels."

"And yet…. Ah… You're right. That's impossible." Skirmir said, transforming again. He hefted Ren onto his back. Lupi and Mika transformed, and Lief picked up Saleh, the latter conjuring a small breeze to aid Lief. The six traveled southward, in the direction of castle Gallia.

"I..okay?" Ren picked up from outside of his mind.

"He's maki… …covery." He began to fade out again.

"rmy… ing towards us." Ren woke up for the fourth time to the frantic screeching of some female.

"doa… Sendi… forcements." Ren struggled to hold on to this one.

"Awaken." Ren's large orange eyes flashed as light hit them for the first time in who knows how long. However, he wasn't anywhere he knew. He was standing, his sword was gone. A man with long black hair and a tight jaw stared grimly at him.

"Get. Up." Ren stood up.

"Good. Now fight." The man said. He gave an inhuman roar, and disappeared. A massive shadow overtook the sky.

King Skirmir was fighting for his country's life. Nella had decided to wage war against the four Laguz bandits who had stolen her Formshift Diamond, and anyone who sheltered them was considered enemies of the empire. She was just a branded, but she still received some sort of comfort when around the rare stones. She had apologized for attacking Daein, and even sent hundreds of workers to fix the blaze, as her cousin King Keith was not one to hold back, and with thousands of perfectly trained soldiers at his disposal, he could easily overtake her force, even though she had the advantage in numbers by the thousands. She still had the upper hand on Gallia, though, inheriting her mother's affinity for pyro kinesis and, more importantly, her Cymbeline, which was blessed by Yune and had an endless supply of magic. Crimea and Gallia, both of whom were attacked as the four fled, had retaliated. King Skirmir had contacted both King Tibarn and King Kurthnaga, and they had agreed to assist their fellow countries.

Gallia, having been attacked on their own lands, retaliated swiftly, the King himself charging forward at the head of the forces with his uncle at his side. The two were given half a kilometer of distance from any other Gallian in the fight. The forces were thinly spread, and with the hundreds of fire mages Nella had trained personally, they were quickly falling. Former king Cainghesis and King Skirmir were beginning to be slowed down by the sheer amount of blood caked on their fur.

From the northeast, a harsh caw sounded three times. A howl answered it, and fourty-nine birds dropped like rocks among the fighting. One raven cleaned its talons of skin, before looking up to the wolf and cat that had appeared. The wolf flicked it's red bang, and the cat and bird meowed and cawed simultaneously. The three were then moving to the south of the large scale fight.

Birds lay slain among the ranks of the untransformed tigers and cats. Begnion had brought out the catapults, immediately decimating the birds. Of them remained Tibarn, who had broken a leg; Janaff and Ulki, too resilient to give up in front of their king; Naesala, who was currently untransformed and grieving over the loss of his blue bang; Lief, who was currently sprawled on the ground in front of Saleh; and a handful of lucky ravens and hawks. Tibarn looked up from where he rested on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Dammit, they've killed my boys. And here I am, whining over a freaking broken leg. I will snap every single one of their necks if it's the last thing I do." Tibarn kicked as one of his remaining hawks applied a herb to his wound.

"Ashunera above, do you know how much this stuff costs?" Naesala pointed at his shirt while addressing Lief. "It's almost impossible to find!" Lief looked at his armband, made of the same stuff Naesala's suit was made of.

"Woah… My parents must be so cool." He whispered.

"Mika, you okay?" Saleh asked. Mika smiled.

"Yeah, thanks for asking. And you?" Saleh smiled.

"I think I can deal with them." Mika smiled back.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I advise you guys get prepared for battle." Lupi said. Mika threw an empty vulenary bottle at the wolf, before retorting.

"Ahh, those Begnion _asini _wouldn't attack for all the gold in the world.

"I hear shouting." Ulki stated to the whispers of Lupi's: "Told ya so."

"I see swords waving!" Janaff screeched in the same moment.

"Well, let's get to it." Caineghis grunted as he stood up. "Where is Ranulf?" He asked Skirmir.

"Last I checked, he was somewhere in Daein, as an ambassador from Gallia." Skirmir said nonchalantly, though he secretly missed the smaller and swifter cat at his side in battle.

"Let's move. People to kill." Giffca mumbled out, shifting as the Begnion soldiers tripped down the hill, bolstered by wyvern riders and paladins that had just arrived. Lupi sighed, ready to call his group to retreat, when something stopped him dead in his tracks.

"FORWARD THE BUFFS! RIGHT-O, CHINS UP AND CHESTS OUT, THE ONLY GOOD BEGNION IS A DEAD ONE!" A cry rang from the northern part of the battlefield. Everyone looked north, even the Begnion soldiers. A paladin was charging from the hills downward, at the head of about twenty soldiers, all of whom road on glimmering horses. They alternated between holding lances, swords, and axes, the one in front twirling his sword expertly in front of his shimmering pink hair.

"SIR LEON, AT YA' SERVICE!" He bellowed. His horse leaped from an outcropping, landing on top of a Begnion soldier, flattening him. The rest of the knights leaped, weapons swinging wildly. Everyone was confused for a second, and then someone from Begnion cried as he impaled a cat in its foot. The fighting continued, the Crimean knights cutting a wedge straight through to the center of the fight. The tide was evenly matched now, and the push and pull of the fight was only changed by the occasional outburst of energy from Skirmir. They were about twenty minutes into this fight, when suddenly, the sun was blotted from the sky. Everyone looked up. A massive grey-ish dragon was charging towards the field.

"Goldoans..." Lupi whispered in awe of the amazing dragon. There was only one dragon. It landed in the middle of the field with an earth-shattering crash. All of the forces were separated, the Laguz alliance behind the dragon and the Begnion army in front of it. The pressure in the area tangibly dropped as everyone simultaneously breathed in. The dragon inhaled, then opened its mouth, revealing icy breath inside of it. The thunder mages couldn't react fast enough before a torrent of frozen air rained on them. As swiftly as it came, it was gone. As was the Begnion army.

Cleanup was scarce and unnecessary. There were only a few bodies left after what the random dragon did.

"Well that was fun." Lupi mused, looking at the frozen mountain that looked more like a standing twig in the middle of a field.

"GRAAAHH…" A roar came from above the survivors. A black dragon descended from the sky.

"WHERE… ARE THE PEOPLE… WHO WILL DIE?" The dragon garbled out.

"What do you mean? You already sent your reinforcements." Skirmir yelled, pointing at the ruined fields. The dragon reverted, falling gracefully from the sky. Black robes sprouted from the light, accompanied by a golden circlet. His once short hair now fell in neat rows around his face, parted in the middle. His once childish face had become more hardened with the trials of being King. Kurthnaga was obviously baffled.

"I never sen anyone. Is it possible that there is a renegade dragon out somewhere?" Kurth looked at the mountain. "A white dragon…"

"We can deal with this later. For now let's get back to Castle Gallia." No sooner had he said that had Janaff leapt up in surprise.

"King… King Skirmir… FIRE!" Skirmir looked around his immediate vicinity, but after seeing no fire, looked up to Janaff. Janaff had horror written all over his face, staring intently to the west.

"Not here…" Janaff whispered. Everyone followed his gaze, back in the direction of Castle Gallia.

"NO!"

The company arrived at the capital at top speed. The main court was bursting with flames. Skirmir and Caineghis were starting to run up the steps, when all three bandits screeched the same name.

"REN!" Lief vaulted into the air, diving into a hole that had been caused by fire. Mika took the steps four at a time, banging on the door. Something had fallen inside, barring the exit. She pounded again and again, until Lupi barreled over her head, crashing into the door and tearing it into pieces. Mika followed, careful not to step on the huge banner that had fallen onto the doors leading inside. Skirmir and Caineghis cleared the rest of the rubble away from the door, allowing everyone else to enter. Leon whistled.

"That's a right-o mess ya got here… Any rivers nearby?" Skirmir gave him a look that could've killed Ashera herself. Everyone was starting to lose hope, when suddenly, a shout was heard from outside.

"FIMBULVETR!" Everyone ran back out with the exception of Lupi, Lief and Mika to see what was going on. Saleh was outside, covered in energy, a spell book in front of him. A wind picked up , tossing his deep hood off. The bandages that covered his face started to wave wildly around his black hair. His hands glowed blue. He lowered his head, and then shouted again.

"FIMBULVETR!" The book snapped shut. A roaring wind was heard. From out of Saleh's sleeve came tons of snow, blasting full force gales towards the castle. The fires were put out, and snow covered the insides of the castle. Saleh dropped exhausted, the book falling from where it previously floated. All present people rushed inside to check on the castle's inhabitants.

Mika made it to the hospital wing first. Snow was piled up against the walls, bringing the temperature down greatly. Mika wrapped her scarf around her neck and continued down the hallway. Lief suddenly flew through a hole next to Mika. They were both untransformed. Canine panting was heard, confirming that the transformed Lupi was behind them. They all reached the room, Mika kicking it open. Everyone froze in their tracks. Time slowed down. Silence reigned.

"EEEEEK!"

Skirmir was walking down the hallway towards the throne room when screams urged him to run. He found the door broken down, with the room halfway caved in. Two tigers were holding up a load of rubble over three Laguz, all of whom were pinned down by a huge wooden spar. The tigers turned their heads to the door, and the one on the right, a green one, sighed in relief. Caineghis pushed his nephew aside, only for Kurth to push him aside.

"I've got this." Kurth said. Kurth took a deep breath, then in a gust of purple wind, transformed to a more suitable size for the room. He stood about seven feet tall now, well prepared for the task at hand. Kurth moved to the tigers, picked up the load of debris they carried, and, inch by inch, lifted it into the air. The two tigers were grateful and immediately collapsed, reverting before they could hit the ground.

As Kurth carried the debris away and Skirmir moved the spar, the screech was heard throughout the castle. Everyone ran into the hospital, before stopping in their tracks, just as the three bandits had.

"Mother of Yune…" Skirmir mumbled.

"This… this is…" Tibarn said, choking on his words. Saleh walked in, gasping.

"Deus ego…"

There was no more fresh meat.

The tides battered against the ship, which had long ago begun to deteriorate. The name on the side was all but gone, the only legible thing being _S.S._ _K…_ After that was a mess of paint.

Moans throughout the ship increased as the final piles of leftovers were devoured, leaving the hostile crew without food. They began to search more watchfully for survivors, and eventually they came upon the captain's room. They began beating on the door, over and over, until it finally came down, revealing the ten humans hiding inside. The unsympathetic beings moaned in satisfaction as they saw what the humans had to offer. The humans all gave shouts of help, but none of them were answered. Everybody picked up sharpened metal sticks they had prepared, ready to fight. The beings simply continued to moan. The first human charged forth, impaling one on his stick. He laughed in victory, and before the other humans could follow his lead, something hissed and surged forth from the darkness faster than he could've blinked. It latched onto his face, muffling his screams, and dragged him and the… _**thing **_he impaled back into the ship's recesses. His screams were accompanied by loud squelching sounds. Then silence. Then something rolled across the floor, too hard for the _**whatever it was **_to digest. The beings who had found the humans, though, moaned in delight. Their teeth were perfect for this part. As they leaned down and crowded around the object, more hisses occurred, and things flew from the darkness with pinpoint accuracy, catching the humans and dragging them backwards. Squelching occurred, but no object rolled.

The beings realized they were getting no more food, and moaned more, before turning to exit. Some human who had been hiding in a corner made a mad dash to run past them. One of the being unhinged its jaw and leaped. It landed on the human's back, and clamped its mouth down on his head. He screeched, giving gurgling cries until the thing completely severed his head. His body fell, where the other things lined up and began to strip it bare.

Down in the ship's hull, where the door was locked beyond any strength the beings could provide, two teenagers huddled together in the night. They were both nibbling on pieces of bread. One looked at the other, who was younger, and smiled.

"We'll be okay." In the dim moonlight, he could see her smile.

"I know." She replied. They both knew it wasn't true. The two hugged again, braving themselves for however long the ship would be adrift. Unbeknownst to either of them, this time was a lot shorter than they expected.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: **_

_**Hiya~! It's Marcie ~! I freaking love reading all your guys' reviews, they make me smile, laugh, and just happy! Tara, thank you so much for your epic drawing of Mika! IT IS SO AMAZING!  
>I love you guys, and I hope you like this chapter! Remember to review right after for quicker updates. c:<strong>_

_**HEY GUYS! Smasher here. A lot of you guys made a bunch of inaccurate assumptions on things, so I'm just gonna say it… Most of them are wrong. Heheh… ALSO! EVERYONE GO TO SNEAK-SLASH'S PROFILE! THERE YOU'LL FIND THE GREATEST DRAWING OF MIKA EVER! (it's the only one) Thanks Sneak!**_

Everyone advanced to the bed slowly. A huge pile of smoking rubble was suspended above Ren's bed, held up by a wooden spar. The plank was splintered in the middle, and was almost about to break. But that wasn't what scared them. Two people were in the room, both of whom were not looking too friendly. One was a mage leaning in the corner, lazily holding her Bolganone tome, half asleep. The other stood with his sword pointed at the spar, preparing to slash it. He held the point right at the crack.

"So, how is this going to work out?" He said with a devilish smile.

"Mordecai. Lethe. Lyre. Muarim. Go." The four beasts nodded, backing away slowly.

"Put. The. Sword. Down." Lupi said, taking a step forward. The sword buried itself a little into the wood, and stone dust fell on everyone. The mage woke up.

"Huh… OH!" She said, falling over backwards. Her partner looked over to her,and Lupi took another step. The man's eyes were already trained on him again, and his sword pushed further. More dust fell. Lupi rubbed it out of his eyes, as did the man. Saleh was whispering words of prayer in the ancient language, as were Mika and Lupi. Ren was still knocked out. Janaff and Ulki were in the doorway, sweat rolling down their cheeks simultaneously. Tibarn, Skirmir, and Caineghis all grunted as they held back the urge to do something rash. Naesala was busy combing his hair.

"If you push it any further, we're all dead."

"That's what I was sent for."

"Are you sure this is what you want? To end your life and the lives of other people, including your partner, because your dumb Apostle said so?" The man growled.

"Never insult my apostle."

"Okay, what about your family?" The man was physically taken aback.

"My… Family… Lilia…" Lupi smiled. "They're okay with it." Lupi frowned.

"They might be, but are you?" The man thought about it.

"Come on, Ci. You aren't seriously thinking about turning back now. We've already wrecked their castle. Either way, we die."

Ci thought. "You'll kill us, won't you?" Lupi sighed.

"I wouldn't dare. But they," he said, pointing over his shoulder at the three royals who were anxiously wringing their hands, "might not be so lenient." Ci was about to give a reply, when his partner made his decision for him. She pushed his shoulder forward, severing the spar and throwing Ci to the floor. The wood fell, and in that instant three things happened.

First, Ren's eyes snapped open, quickly followed by his mouth as 200 pounds of stone and wood fell onto him.

Second, Mika let out a cry of fear for Ren's young life.

Third, a massive black dragon slammed into the room, it's huge red wings catching the rubble and exploding the mass. Everyone present yelled, except for Kurthnaga.

"It's about time, sis." Kurth said. Everyone looked at Kurth.

Naesala was confused the most. "But didn't she lose her powers after she and Ashnard… You know… Ha-"

"KING NAESALA! WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, WE HAVE A MINOR!" Lief pointed at Ren while yelling at Naesala.

"Jeez, kid. You've got flare. I wish half my ravens had that fire in you." Lief simply turned his back to Naesala to join Lupi and Mika at Ren's side. Ci stood up as his partner's head hit his leg. And her arm hit his neck. And the rest of her body landed somewhere outside. He blanched. The black dragon dropped to the ground, reverting into a greenish-haired woman. She fell down, black and red robes sprouting from nowhere. She landed gracefully, flourishing, and then walking over to her little brother.

"Kurth. What's taking so long?" She asked.

"Well, we had a hostage situation, but you… Eh… Took care of that." Kurth said, holding back vomit as he pointed to the room repainted in red. Almedha shrugged, wiping some blood from where her wings would have been had she been in her dragon form.

"I still don't get it. Laguz who have relations with Beorc lose their powers, right?"

"Right, but Ashera was feeling bad about how she had created that rule earlier, so she gave everyone who had been affected by it the chance to choose their race. Your raven, Lehran, chose to remain a mage."

"That's… Wait, why didn't I know of this?"

"Uhh… You don't have a mail system?"

"Aye. Well, Tibarn, shall we return home for now?" Tibarn turned from where he stood.

"Yeah, sure. I don't think that Nella would risk another attack."

"Well, we'll catch you guys later. Peaces!" Lief admired Naesala as he leaped through the window, followed by Tibarn, then Janaff and Ulki, and a few rooms down, the remaining hawks and ravens leaped through the sky to follow.

"We should be getting back, King Skirmir. I'd rather not keep my people on edge." Kurth said. Almedha looked at Saleh.

"You smell of dragon. You have killed one of our kind before?" Almedha said. Kurth whirled on Saleh as well, apparently picking up the smell too.

"Well, not exactly dragon _laguz. _There are manaketes who can transform into dragons, though. A few attacked me a while back. Though, my partner and I made short work of them. Ahh, we were a team. Why, no-" Saleh stopped himself. "No." He said before turning on his heel and walking from the door. Mika followed quickly. Ren ran after her. Lupi looked at Ci.

"Well, what will you do?"

"I've lost my partner. My mother and my sister are still in Begnion. My father… Doesn't matter about him. I've got to get back to Begnion to get them out of there. Begnion is not the right country for my family. I've decided to move to Hatari." Lupi's ears quirked up at his heritage place. Caineghis slapped his forhead.

"OF COURSE! HATARI!" Caineghis tapped Lupi's shoulder.

"You wouldn't happen to have a black letter in your pouch, would you, Lupi?" Lupi tilted his head, reaching into his pouch. Lo and behold, a black letter had mysteriously emerged inside his pack. He nonchalantly opened it, scanning its contents. He shut the letter, flicking his head outside. Lupi walked out of the door. Lief followed. Ci stood up.

"King Skirmir, I'm sorry for what I've done. Please, don't kill me." Ci said. Skirmir walked over to where Ci's sword lay, picked it up, and tossed it to Ci.

"I don't blame you. Given the fact that your friend was a mage, I assume she started the fire. You had no intention of killing anyone here, and you have a reason to live. However, I will require one thing."

"Anything, sir."

"Watch over those kids. They may be around one hundred years old, but they're still kids. Judging by Beorc standards, you're around eighteen?"

"Nineteen, sir. I promise, I will."

"One more thing. What is your name?"

"My name is Cius."

xXx

Saleh was sitting on the steps leading to the castle. He sighed deeply, throwing his hood back onto his head, covering up the black locks once more. He thought about his past, and all the he had let down. All the people who were his friends, all of them were dead. He couldn't have possibly stopped it, but they were all gone. He had left them to follow some silly dream that had died as well. He heard soft padding, and exhaled sharply. Someone sat down next to him. He didn't have to look up to know it was Mika.

"What." He said, immediately wishing he had been a little softer. She scratched her arm, and her ear tilted down.

"Well… Uhh… I just… That was a cool spell you did there." Saleh allowed himself a small smile, and he looked up towards the sun, which had just begun to set.

"Thanks. I picked it up from a place I went to once. It's Wind based."

"Where did all the snow come from?" Mika asked.

"Well, my magi-" Someone padded out onto the steps. Two other people followed.

"Hey, Ren. Why don't we go… Uhh… See King Kurthnaga leave? Don't you like wyverns and dragons?"

"Oooh, can we? Can we?" Ren said, bouncing on his feet, his eyes glimmering in the orange light cast around their world. Lief flashed a rare smile and ran his hands through his dark blue hair.

"Maybe we can fly after them for a few miles." Ren jumped onto Lief piggy-back style.

"Onwards!" He giggled, allowing his childish side to get the better of him. Lupi nudged Lief off. Lief took off, and Lupi soon followed in his wolf form, yelling something about 'testing his strength'. Saleh and Mika were alone again.

"What were we talking about?" Saleh asked.

"We were talking about your past."

"Oh, right. So I left to travel around with my fr-… Wait…" Mika laughed. "Nice try." They both giggled a little. Saleh stared intently at the sunset. No more words were spoken. Mika leaned on Saleh's shoulders. He didn't move a muscle. She purred. He wrapped an arm around her. She looked up into his eyes, and found herself lost in the crimson waves that roared inside them. His pupils focused on her one viewable eye, which was a luscious violet. Her orange hair covered up her other eye. Saleh's hood covered his face, casting a deep shadow over it. That didn't stop Mika. She leaned in, determined to steal the secrets that lay beyond the shadowy wall that Saleh put up. Saleh was ready to take the wall down. The few inches were closed, their breaths becoming intermingled. Eyes closed, time slowing down. They were ready, but apparently some unseen force wasn't. Because at that very moment, the ground began to rumble. Tellius itself began to shake violently. The earth split.

xXx

Mallory and Felix were both heading home after hunting, when the ground began to shake. They both ran back to Ohma, just to see the weakly built cottages collapse as the earth ripped itself into pieces. A blinding red light shot from the sky, lighting it up. The entire town, save a few houses on the edge, shifted and slid into the lava below. People shrieked, as they were rudely awakened by their houses becoming their graves. Others sleepily walked from their houses to see their lawns covered in molten rock. Mallory and Felix rushed to the edge, where the house belonging to their parents were. Neither pair of parents had woken up. All four passed peacefully.

Mallory sank to her knees, her sword falling below. Tears sprang from her cheeks, incinerating due to their proximity to the lava. Felix eventually hoisted her up cradle style, carrying her away from the sight. Other villagers slept unaware that they had been spared. Then there was a second roar from the earth, and a huge rock lurched from the lava, covering the hole completely. A green, yellow, and red seal lit up on it, shining brightly in the night.

xXx

King Keith was walking down the streets of Nevassa, when suddenly, in the distant forests, an unearthly glow caught his attention. He whistled a low pitched note, and in seconds a dark shadow appeared. Keith leaped up, and landed on the back of his wyvern, named Altina after his ancestor. The wyvern was joined by two of his royal guards, and together they flew towards the site of the light. All three wyverns dropped down to a peculiar sight. There was a huge rock, emanating warmth. A seal was inscribed upon it, the seal casting off a white light that illuminated the forest surroundings.

xXx

Nella was sitting at the top of her extremely high castle, looking over the vast Grann desert. She watched as the world ate away at itself. She took a sip from a glass, before she suddenly dropped it. The desert, which had been in a vicious sandstorm like usual, suddenly died. All of the winds just cut, and a darkness rose from the desert. In one second, an entire part of the desert was completely filled with this darkness, a choking cloud that seemingly repelled the moonlight. The desert winds picked up normally, but they seemed to rotate around the dark blob. Nella mentally made note of this before she went to her room.

xXx

Saleh stood over Mika protectively as the ground shook everywhere.

Lief, Kurth, Almedha and Ren both dropped down, landing as soon as the earth stopped it's fits.

"Mika, are you okay?" Saleh asked.

"I'm fine..." she said. She walked inside. Lupi came back soon, taking stock of the damage quickly. Mika suddenly ran out of the room, followed by Cius wearing a long blue scarf and light armor over his tunic. A sword was sheathed in his belt, and he looked no worse for wear.

"So, you ready? I'm gonna be a part of your team!" Cius walked down the steps with a confident stride. He had nearly reached the bottom when he fell. Lupi facepalmed.

"This is gonna be a long day..."


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: **_

_**Hey guys. c: How's it been going? Wow, I'm lazy as hell..testing has been driving me crazy! And I'm playing some Path of Radiance. Tormod is adorable. Please drop in a review~! Love you guys!  
><strong>__**-Marciee**_

_**All the fanart.. Thanks people! It keeps us (me) writing! So now, once again, enjoy! Bon appetite! Comer la libro! Habeo copiae! By the way, the story is strewn with references to everything you could possibly imagine. So look hard.  
>To Sneak-Slash: Oh, you'll be seeing a LOT of Nella in the next few chapters. I can't guarantee you'll like it. In fact..<strong>_

_**Disclaimer Nintendo: Disclaim.**_

"Psst." The leaves crunched under the sandals and boots that trudged through the woods.

"Hey… Psst!" An ear twitched.

"PSST!" A hand clenched.

"HEY! PS-"

"WHAT?" Lupi finally yelled. Cius smiled.

"Hi." Lupi nearly kicked him in the chin.

"What do you want?" Lupi sighed, Cius bubbling with too much excitement for a nineteen year old man.

"Isn't Mika… HOOOT?" Lupi looked at him like he was demented.

"Dude, she's like… My sister!" Lupi whispered.

"So… She's available?" Cius whispered back. Lupi just sighed again and picked up the pace. Ren was in the front, somehow enjoying the fact that his right leg was in a brace. He was up front screaming something about being an Armor Sword. Mika held the map as they trekked through the woods, in the direction of the Serenes Forest. Lief occasionally flitted into the canopy of trees, but otherwise he remained high up, whistling some ancient song. There was no sign of Saleh, but a rustling here and there gave off his location in the trees.

It had gone on like this for about an hour when Saleh dropped down, his hood still covering his face.

"Bandits up ahead." Saleh deadpanned.

"We can just avoid them, right?" Mika asked.

"I wish. They've got somebody prisoner."

"Sucks to be them. What kind of dude gets trapped out in the woods?" Mika replied.

"It's a Laguz."

"Lupi let's go." Mika said, putting on her gloves.

"Fun. Mika, you know what to do. Ren, wait for Lief. Saleh and Cius, I suggest you sit back and enjoy the show." Lupi replied in an equally flat tone. Cius gave a questioning look to Saleh, but Saleh just shook his head. Cius looked back to Lupi, but the two beast Laguz were gone. Ren was carried up into the air by Lief. He looked back to Saleh, who was already headed towards where he had seen the encampment. Cius gave a suppressed yelp and hurried to catch up.

xXx

The seven bandits were seated around a fire. They were gnawing on something in the shape of a mouse. One of them, obviously the leader, was chomping on a huge slab of meat. The only female of the group was applying some sort of healing salve to a large gash on his face. The entire group was dressed in leathers and rags. The leader's bulky arms shone with blood and sweat. Not ten feet behind him was a young cat Laguz male. His hands were bound up, hands tied way above his head. His legs were chained and covered in rocks. A large metal band was around his chest. This, added on to by the multiple slashes across his arms and legs, did nothing to deter him. He still smiled, his long blue hair matted to his forhead, covering his eyes completely. He had a shaggy appearance, but under all of that was the unmistakable toned body of a fighter.

"Hey, meatface. Wanna untie me?"

"Not after what you pulled back there. Psh. What kind of person kicks someone in the face and asks to be untied?" The burly man replied after swallowing a mouthful of chicken.

"Well, don't you worry. I'll be out of here in a few seconds." The man said as he eyed the figure entering the clearing.

"Good luck with th- Well hello, Ms., what a lovely dress. What fancy occasion are you attending?" The man laughed as he and his cronies all got up, axes in hand.

"Your funeral." Mika smiled. Before the man could react, she had flipped over to the nearest bandit, dealing a devastating kick to his nose. The blood burst forth from the wound, and the man dropped his axe and clutched his face. All the bandits were surrounding her by now. A raven's caw was heard above. Mika looked up to see a black bird circling. She gave it a nod. Somewhere in the woods, Ren was heard to mumble, almost as if singing,

"Nod at the bird, and people die. Everywhere, people die." The bandits all turned to the woods where the voice had come from, but by then it was too late. Lupi ducked out from the bushes and leaped in the air, dealing a roundhouse kick to one of them. Five more to go. The bandits weren't going to fall for anymore tricks, and instead focused on hitting the two laguz in front of them. Lupi crouched, waiting for one of the bandits to get within range. The closest bandit was about two yards away. That was close enough. Like a piston, Lupi sprang into the air, flipping twice before descending and landing a kick on the back of the bandit's neck. He gurgled a bit before falling lifelessly. Mika leaped at one of the bandits, landing on his shoulders. She twisted a bit, and a sickening crunch was heard. The bandit fell.

The leader was pushing the other members at the two Laguz, but none would fight. Just when he decided to go himself, a blue flash barreled from the woods. In came Ren, but instead of wielding his signature red blade, he was holding some throwing knives. The remaining bandits couldn't help but laugh, until three knives whizzed into the group, two finding their marks and reducing the numbers to one.

"COME COME COME GET IT GET IT!" Ren challenged.

The remaining bandit, the leader, hefted a massive axe over his arm.

"They call me the Butcher." He said. It was then that everyone realize that he had been sitting down in a chair for the duration of the fight. He stood up, flexing and revealing all seven feet of pure muscle. A knife flew through the air, but it bounced off of his axe harmlessly. The man advanced slowly, holding the halberd in front of him. The two Laguz backed away slowly, unable to think straight. A rustling was directly behind "The Butcher" was heard, and the man swung his axe backwards. Saleh flipped over it, lightly jumping off of the axe as it flew by. The axe flew out of his hands, landing in a tree. Saleh landed on his head. The bandit thought for a second. It was all Saleh needed. He dropped, sitting cross-legged on the man's head. He pressed his hands on the Butcher's face.

"_HOC IGNES TUUM VITAM FINIENT!" _Saleh bellowed. His hands glowed white hot, and everyone only had time to gasp before the ground below his hands literally exploded with flames. The force of the blast pushed everyone backwards, and Ren only survived by jabbing his knives into a tree as he passed by. Lief was blasted out of the sky, and everyone else dug in to the ground and tried their best to stay on the ground. The light was blinding, and a blood curdling scream could be heard over the gusts and roaring of the flames. The light eventually died down, and Saleh landed on a blackened patch of grass. There was nothing left of the bandit. Everyone's jaws dropped.

"What?" Saleh said.

"What a fireworks show." Said the Laguz tied up by the post. "Now, if you could GET ME DOWN, I'd really appreciate it. I might even do a trick." Ren walked over and slashed his bonds, letting his arms down. Lupi walked over, using a lock pick to open the padlock on his chest. He stepped out of his torture device. He gave everyone a wide grin, before stating,

"So. I take it you guys are heading to the Serenes?"

"Yep. Could you point us the way?" Lupi asked.

"What's the need? You're already there."

"No way." Mika said. Lief chose that moment to land.

"Everyone. Look." He pointed to the ground Saleh had burned. A glowing light was washing over the forest. As if it was alive, grass sprouted from the charred ground. Light seemingly blew away the ashes. The fallen bandits who littered the ground were grabbed by vines as they sprouted from the ground, and the bodies were pulled down. A small flower grew on top of each one, with a bright rose growing for where the female bandit had lain. As soon as it had come, the light left. There was no sign of any struggle in the clearing. A figure clad in white walked by, pulling the axe from the tree. He then placed his hand on the tree, and it healed from the slash it had received. The man sighed for a moment, before stretching his white wings wide.

"Ranulf. I told you not to come here after a fight. It disrupts the flow of the Heron clan." The man said.

"Heyy, Reysonnn… What's up, bro?" The cat man said. Lief gasped for a second.

"Wait, Heron with white wings are royal.. WAIT… Ranulf?_ THE_ Ranulf?" Everyone looked at Lief. He was the oldest of the group, so it was obvious he knew more than any of his brothers and sister.

"That's right. I'm Ranulf. General of Gallia, and one of the seventeen chosen to defeat Ashera. These are holy claws you're looking at." Ranulf smiled, pointing a claw at Lief. He then looked at Mika. "Cat Laguz, huh? Pretty strong too." Ranulf paused, moving his head about for a bit. "Ahh, you're coming from Gallia."

"How'd you- oh. Right. Noses." Mika concluded.

"Nope. You've got a letter in your bag with the Gallian royal seal on it. Hmm, odd. How did the King know you'd meet me?" Ranulf asked as he accepted the letter from a dumbstruck Mika.

"Hmm… Oh… ahh… That's… Fun. Woah… Uh, cool." Ranulf said.

"Well, so it's Lupi, Lief, Ren, Mika, Saleh, and Cius?" Ranulf asked. He received six nods. "Well that's fun. Hey, Reyson, these guys are here for the show. King's orders." Ranulf said, his blue hair covering his eyes still.

"How can you see?" Ren asked, big curious orbs glaring at Ranulf.

"Uhh… I eat my greens?" Ranulf asked. "Ashera, this is what I get for being Kitty Cat Man."

"Follow me." Reyson said. In a magnificent white flash, he had transformed. He took wing, flying slowly and gracefully northward. Lief transformed less flashily, and followed. Everyone else resigned to using their feet.

As the troupe traveled, they noticed the trees getting brighter and more luminous. The lush greenery seemed to be soothing them. Four voices were picked up from deep in the forest. Three were deep, resounding baritone voices which echoed throughout the forest. The fourth was soft and melodious, seemingly flowing throughout the forest. Nobody noticed it, but a soft light began to emanate from where they walked. Reyson suddenly sped up, a bright light confirming his reverting. They continued through the forest, when suddenly, the forest explicitly dropped off to a huge clearing, most of the space of which was taken up by a massive altar. Five Herons stood on top of the altar, four with white wings and one with black wings. They all harmonized to produce a soft humming. The entire group stood transfixed. It was at that time that the humming stopped. The female Heron began to sing.

_**Endless grief and sorrow.**_

_**Hearts slumbering again,**_

The forest clearing began to glow.

_**Stars frozen in their place:**_

_**Darkness envelopes the land.**_

This time, Reyson and the other young blonde Heron joined in, their deep voices producing a sound that struck true to the heart.

_**But in the spilling of blood,**_

_**a hope still glimmers dim.**_

As the group of travelers watched the Heron, unable to move, the white glow around their feet began to spread to them. It slowly crept up the clothes they wore, mingling with their very souls.

_**in a reflection in the water.**_

_**in a whisper in the wind.**_

The final two Heron, one with deep black wings, one with wondrous white wings, joined in; producing a sound Ashunera herself would cry to.

_**Gather your courage.**_

_**It will break the bonds of night.**_

The light was blinding now, and the group hadn't noticed it. They were all in a trance, eyes closed and bodies all but floating.

_**take wing, and dance upon the sky.**_

_**take wing, and dance upon the sky.**_

Then, all at once, Lief broke free with those last few words. He was about to ask questions, but before he could, he paused. He looked at his friends. And he screamed.

XxX

The cruise was going great. The ship sailed smoothly along the water just off the coast of Kilvas. Everyone on board was having a good time. The captain of the ship, Captain Alexander, was sitting in the captain's lounge, viewing the party on the deck, when suddenly something caught his eye. A ship was sailing directly towards them! Alex grabbed a lantern and shone it twice, the signal for the ship to turn. However, the ship continued bearing down on them. In fact, it seemed to speed up. Panicking, the captain jumped up and recklessly spun the wheel in an attempt to turn. Too late. The ship was half turned when it was rammed by the other ship. The boat literally snapped in half, the hull immediately sinking. Screams rent the still night air, but the crew was alone, seeing as Kilvas was deserted. The boat which was still intact slowed to a stop, as if realizing what it had done.

"Help!" A young woman cried in the night as she held on to half of her husband who had unfortunately been standing in the path of the ship. There was a long moan from the ship, and then hundreds of splashes were heard as things jumped from the ship. One man swam to one of them, rambling.

"Thank Ashera that you people have hearts, otherwise we mi-" Something leaped from the water and grabbed him. He barely had time to make out the soulless, milky white orbs that were in the "beorc"'s eye sockets before it plunged it's head through his chest. There was a slight gurgling sound as the head retracted, followed by a mess of red mushy stuff. This happened several times before the crew members realized they were being threatened. The captain was still in the lounge, when a horrid voice broke his confidence.

"Hello there, captain." A man said. The captain whirled around, axe at the ready.

"Who be that?" the captain asked with a shaky voice. There where whispers coming from the shadows.

"Your ship crashed into mine... That wasn't very nice, was it?"

"Show yerself, if yer know what's good fer ya..." the captain said, backing up to the wheel.

"My dear captain, all I ask for is something in return for the damage done to my ship..." The voice was above him now.

"I'll give yer anything, just let me go... What der ya want?" the Captain sighed, feeling his freedom wasn't far away.

"My dear captain... I've been traveling so long, and I'm so tired... All I ask for..." There was a lick at his neck.

"Is dinner."

XxX

Inside the ship, the only two true humans shivered as the last of their hardtack biscuits were devoured. The teenaged boy held the girl close, as they were the only source of warmth and comfort for each other.

_**A hope still glimmers dim**_

_**In a reflection in the water**_

_**In a whisper in the wind**_...

LATIN: HOC IGNES TUUM VITAM FINIENT: These flames will end your life!

The song in bold song by Herons: Translated Galdr of Rebirth


	7. Chapter 7

_**What's up**__**? **__**Here's the next chapter (obviously). Blah blah blah we own everyone except Nintendo's people/ places.**_

_**There are a couple of spoilers in this chapter, so if you haven't gotten all the characters and looked at all the info conversations, don't read this chapter. Sorry for it's shortness compared to the others, we just had to set a little stuff up for the next few chapters.**_

_**BTW, anyone else excited about Fire Emblem: Awakening?**_

**Cius- I guess it's pronounced Sai-Us? I pronounce it See-Us.**

**Marcie Time. ^_^ Oh I say Sai-Us. Mwahah, I say it more properly. I WANT FIRE EMBLEM: AWAKENING! MAAAAARF. That is all. Love you, guys. c:**

To erase all doubt, Saleh is not the Saleh from Sacred Stones. I stole his name for a bit :L

Lief gaped at Lupi, who's hair had once been jet black. The hair was now pure white, though his red bang still remained. Lupi stared back at Lief with an equally surprised look. Lief's dark blue hair remained it's normal color, but the light had begun to crawl up his back. The light was now lingering on his wings, mostly his left wing. Lupi looked back at his black raven wings and yelped before shaking the light off before it could manifest on his right wing. His black plumage on his left wing had been turned pure white.

"Cool." Mika breathed. A piteous wail rose from behind Mika.

"AAARGH!" Saleh reacted immediately as Ren fell over backwards, clutching his eyes. "The light... It hurrrts..." Ren whined. Saleh quickly bandaged his eyes, making sure that no light could get through. Mika turned on the Heron.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO US?" She growled, claws extended. The Heron female stuttered.

"I... I have no... The song... It song of Rebirth... It purpose to calm down and mend a wounded soul... I... We..." Leanne struggled to get the Modern Speech out.

"That's enough." Reyson said, standing between Mika and Leanne. "I will not have some stranger challenging my little sister in front of my father. You can either leave, or we make you leave." Mika growled again, but she kept herself from doing anything rash. Instead, she turned to Saleh.

"How is he?" She asked.

"He should be fine. We'll need to get him to Goldoa, though. When I was there earlier, I found some herbs that could heal his eyes. In the meanwhile, he will have to keep the bandages on." Saleh replied levelly. Ranulf gave a tut.

"That's too bad, cuz we're supposed to be heading to the Grann desert to meet someone." Lupi frowned.

"Saleh, do you think you could take Ren to Goldoa to get him healed and then rendezvous with us at the desert?"

"I could, if it's okay with Mika." Saleh responded. Mika realized he was talking to her. The decision rested squarely on her shoulders.

"Take Ren to Goldoa. Keep him safe." Mika looked at Ranulf.

"Can you really see out of all that hair? Maybe we should cut it." Ranulf stroked the hair covering his eyes thoughtfully, but shook his head.

"Nahh, trust me. It'd be a waste of time. I'm fine." Ranulf replied. Leanne ran up behind them.

"Sentio mala. Ego cum te!" She exclaimed, before she realized she had spoken in Ancient Language. "I... I fe... fee-"

"Non est necesitare. Nos loqui quod lingua." Lief replied. Leanne's eyes lit up, and she proceeded to have a chat with Lief. Cius nudged Ranulf in the shoulder, and Ranulf gave a shrug.

**xXx**

"Well, we'll... See you soon..." Mika told Saleh. Saleh held his hand out. Mika reached out, wondering what he would give her this time. Four crossed shaped items fell from his hand.

"Satori Signs? How'd you... Why..." But Saleh was leaping through the forest, Southwest to Goldoa. Mika gave a confused frown, before turning to join the group.

"So... Off to Begnion..."

"I can't guarantee we'll be safe from Nella. We might need to hire some Mercenaries, just in case." Cius said while strapping his pack on.

"Who? And where?" Lupi asked.

"I've got that covered. Trust me." Cius smiled. He lead them North, in the direction of Crimea. Mika turned back, but she didn't see Saleh anymore. She sighed.

**xXx**

Cius paused outside the tavern, as if waiting for something. He looked up, noting the position of the sun. Lupi opened his mouth, but Cius held up his finger. He waited a couple of seconds, before whispering, "Now."

The five Laguz and one beorc walked into the bar to see a pink haired girl slam a cup down. Some orange liquid splashed out of it, but she paid it no mind. The group's attention was immideately drawn to the four men who were apparently sleeping around her. Further inspection revealed they all had blood flowing from their heads. She sipped her drink nonchalantly, only pausing to lash out at one of the men as he stirred.

Cius whispered something that vaguely sounded like "hothothothothot", which was only augmented by Lupi and Lief's whistles. Mika slapped both of them. Leanne rolled her eyes, and Ranulf stifled a laugh. The girl turned, lance held at the ready, before her expression softened and her eyes widened.

"Kitty Cat Man?" she asked naively. Ranulf laughed.

"Shouldn't you be dead?"

The girl whooped, throwing herself onto Ranulf in front of the entire bar, causing Ranulf to cringe slightly. Everyone was too drunk to care though.

"Well, I..." She got closer, whispering, "I'm a branded."

"No, really?" Ranulf said, his voice laden with sarcasm. "I thought you were a turtle."

"Wait, you two know each other?" Cius asked. Ranulf face-palmed. Amy grinned.

"Well, what're you doing here, Ci? Ready to join the old merc force again?" Cius became serious again.

"Actually, no. These guys," he said, pointing to Mika, Lupi, and Lief, "are my charge. I was wondering if you could accompany us on our way to the Grann."

"Your charge? Okay... Hey, what happened to that girl you used to travel with? What was her name... uh... Hey, wait!" Cius had sprinted out of the door. "Was it something I said?"

"Uhh..." Ranulf said.

"She's dead." Lief bluntly stated.

"LIEF!" Lupi screamed.

"What?"

**XxX**

Saleh placed Ren down onto the base of the tree. Ren was snoring lightly. Saleh looked back towards the setting sun, worried about his position. He began to murmur aloud to himself.

"I can't. I can't do this. I wasn't supposed to get this involved. Save the girl and her friends, then leave Tellius. That was it. Not get in this mess." Saleh tossed of his cloak, revealing the black tunic he wore underneath. His multiple tomes spilled out, but he didn't care. He sat back opposite of Ren, and began to unload his food from his pack.

"Damnit Mika, why do you have to be so... You?" Saleh said as he pulled out a sliver of salted beef. He ripped a chunk out of it. "This won't turn out well if I keep going down this path. If I can just bring Ren to Goldoa, then I c-"

"You can do what?" Ren replied from the other side of the tree. Saleh did not allow himself to be taken aback.

"Nothing. Go to sleep. We've got a long road ahead of us." Saleh said. He tossed his pack across the tree, and watched as a hand groped around for the bag, grabbed some pieces of bread from it and tossed it back.

"Don't you eat meat?"

"I don't usually get the chance to. There wasn't much grazing land in the desert."

"Right. So, how much did you hear?" Saleh asked, twiddling his thumbs. Ren giggled.

"Enough. So, what was all that about?" But all he got was a snore in reply. Ren frowned, but put his thoughts aside and settled down. Saleh waited until Ren's breathing became even before jumping off of the tree. He pulled out a small jewel encrusted pouch from inside his tunic. He upturned two gems inside. One was a jet black, having lost it's yellow luster long ago after it's uses had been spent. It had been entrusted to him by an old friend who had once been it's owner. The other was a pale blue white stone which glowed faintly as it dropped into his palm. The yellow one was about the size of his hand, and the blue one was a bit larger, his fingers barely wrappping around it. He spoke to it, almost as if communicating with someone.

"We're almost there." He said simply. The gem glowed white, and remained that way for a second. It lost it's glow, and then began to glow black. Another voice, a lot deeper, replied.

"We're waiting for you."

"I know." Saleh whispered. Ren slept on, unaware of it all.

**XXX**

The ship landed as soon as the sun fell below the horizon. The timbers groaned under the pressure of the rocky ground, but the residents had no care. They charged to the ship's deck, leaping from the railings to the unprotected cliffs. A few ravens dive bombed them from above, but they were quickly dispatched by the massive spiders that leaped with amazing agility and accuracy from the ship. As the rest of the beasts climbed the cliffs, the remaining ravens took the skies, with a few unlucky stragglers being taken down by the spiders.

"Tenshi, what the heck is going on?" One of the ravens asked shakily. The female raven, who had led the re-settlement of Kilvas, clenched her fists, and began to play nervously with the bands around her arm.

"I dunno, but we've got to get to the Serenes. King Naesala has to find out about this." Just as she was prepared to transform and dash, she heard shouting. She looked back to the ship. The monsters seemed to be fighting among themselves... But just then, a horrifying tear was heard, along with some thuds, and two teens; a boy and a girl; burst forward from the group. Spiders leapt, but the kids were too fast, leading to their escape. They tore through Kilvas's streets, running dangeroulsy close to the cliff paths and fighting off monsters wherever they came from. A spider leaped from a nearby house, but the boy pulled his knife up just in time. Even in the thick of things, he could be heard screaming:

"SWEETNESS!" At the top of his lungs. The girl he was with fired arrows with deadly precision into the ranks of the monsters, tripping once or twice, but she still seemed to be in good shape. Without even thinking, Tenshi knew she had to go back. She and two other ravens dropped down, speeding towards the duo. Just as the boy tripped, Tenshi had grabbed his arm and lifted him into the air. The other two ravens picked up the girl and her quiver, respectively. The two teens looked in awe at the winged people. In the dead of the night, it was hard to tell what they were. The boy, obviously not frightened, made a suggestion.

"Are you Manaketes?"

"I have no idea what those are, but no. We're Raven Laguz." Tenshi said.

"What's a Laguz?" The girl asked, her purple hair flapping in the wind.

"Well... Let me show you." Tenshi said, glad to give an example. She flung the boy into the air. As he screamed, she shifted into her raven form. The boy landed on her back, whooping with glee. The girl's eyes flashed, before she asked,

"Can you do that too?" The man nodded, transforming along with his brother. The three took one last look upon the island of Kilvas, before they turned to catch up with the rest of the pack.

**XXX**

Nella frowned. This was the third search party she had sent to investigate the dark cloud that was increasingly stretching over the Grann Desert. She had seen the cloud close up, having fired multiple Arcwinds into it. The cloud seemed to absorb all of her magic. She was extremely annoyed. That, coupled with the fact that she was still missing her Formshift Diamond drove her to begin to round up the most potent mages around Begnion for a private army.

0o0

Mallory and Felix had hacked the rock with every single piece of metal they had. Every single thing bounced off of it harmlessly. The green, red and yellow symbol seemed to repel the attacks. Even the local blacksmith had smashed it with every Hammer he possessed. The rock was just too strong. They pondered what this meant. They were determined to find out. The entire village was determined to find out. Or, what remained of it.

0o0

Keith was circling the massive rock with the white seal on it multiple times. It was large enough to contain a house, but there was no way inside. His wyvern had been selectively bred, making his wyvern the closest thing to a dragon that had ever existed, also making it the only wyvern alive to have a breath ability. No matter how strong it's breath was, the rock stood strong still. He had no idea what to do. He was just about ready to throw in the towel. And that's when the aftershocks happened.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Hi, guys! Marcie here. I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the support, and I promise you, I will start updating my fics. I know, the last time I updated was in April. *sweatdrop*  
>I love, love, love Toonami. It's back female doggies. xDD Guess who's going to be fangirling over Yoh Takami, Rokuro, Nagi, and Ganta in Deadman Wonderland?<br>So yeahh, I hope you enjoy this! By the way, how is your guys' summer? :D**_

_**Hey peoples (and whatever else), I got some new news! After one week of toil and stuff, I completed the official half completed website for this fic! Just go to www. Taahl . webs. Com! (without the spaces and the exclamation point). On that note… Does anybody wanna draw some pics of Saleh or Lief? We don't have any art for them :/ SO HERE! (just saying, but stuff gets real in the next few chapters) Btw, some people have been requesting Nella a lot. So, in this chapter, you can have your fill of evil.**_

_**Disclaimer: I hope you can read Chinese, Nintendo, because **__**我們並不擁有這個 **__**!**_

Cius had run outside the tavern, but he had no idea where to go from there. He began pacing around the outside of the inn, angrily kicking up dust. Everyone assumed he was drunk and stayed out of his way. He was about to draw his sword, but a hand stayed his. He looked up angrily at Amy, but one look and he broke down. Amy just patted his back awkwardly. Mika stared wistfully in the direction of Goldoa. Ranulf stared with an equally longing glance in Gallia's direction. Leanne stared off at the Serenes. Lupi and Lief scratched their necks and just stood there until Cius stopped crying. Amy looked down.

"Feeling okay?"

"I needed that." Cius said, his eyes dark and sullen. Lupi waited a couple of awkward seconds, before clearing his throat.

"We should get to the Grann…" Everyone just nodded dully. Amy whistled, and in turn a green wyvern dropped down from the skies.

"Let's go, Ambrose!" She yelled. In a graceful twist, she had grabbed onto the wyvern. She grabbed Cius as the wyvern passed, pulling him onto her wyvern. The rest of her mercenaries whistled, as three more wyverns and five pegasi flapped down in perfect formation. The three wyverns grabbed Ranulf, Lupi, and Lief; Leanne and Lief transformed and followed.

As they were coming onto the Grann desert, Leanne began to shudder. It was unnoticeable at first, but when Lief started to shudder as well.

"Bro, you okay?" Lupi called from the wyvern's back. Lief untransformed.

"Yeah… I'm f-fine…" Lief said. Leanne began mumbling to herself, and her shaking stopped.

"We're coming up on Sienne." Amy called from the lead of the group. In seconds the Tower of Guidance loomed up from the ground. Lief took one look at the tower, and his head exploded with stars.

"UNGH!" Lief cried out sharply before his body fell from the sky. Leanne's heron legs were the only things which stopped him from plummeting.

"We're going to have to land!" Cius yelled.

"In Begnion's capital? Are you crazy?" Lupi yelled back. "Nella will have our heads!" Cius pointed to the eastern side of the city, which was run down looking. The houses, though large, were nothing compared to the mansions that littered the streets of Begnion. It was apparent that this was where the 'poor people' lived. The wyverns pulled down in that direction, Leanne following slowly.

xXx

They landed in a rather torn up shack, but it held up. As the pegasi and wyverns were harnessed to a few poles outside, Leanne pulled Lief into the room, collapsing shortly afterwards.

"Is anybody here a healer?" Lupi asked hastily. One of the Pegasus riders handed him a vulnerary, and Lupi split the bottle and administered half to Lief and half to Leanne.

"Ngh." Lief said.

"What do you think happened to him?" Ranulf asked.

"I don't know. It only affected the bird laguz though. Leanne looked pale too." Amy said.

"What's going on in Begnion that it would take Lief and Leanne down?" Cius asked.

"I wonder where my hat is..." Ranulf pondered to himself.

"So what do we do now? We can't just leave them here." Amy said.

"We're going to have to keep moving on. Amy, can you leave some of your guard here?" Lupi said. Amy nodded, and the three wyvern riders took up their positions around the house. As the flapping outside the house signaled the departure of the Laguz, Leanne stirred slightly. She reached her hand out to the disappearing pegasi, as if to warn them, but she fell unconscious from fatigue. Unaware, the pegasi continued towards the Grann.

**XxX**

Nella growled angrily. Not only had the jeweler informed her that another formshift diamond would take months to find, but the seamstress had missed her appointment to fix Nella's robes! Nella was ticked, to say the least. At last, one of her chamberlains walked in, with a reluctant seamstress following.

"Where have you been?" Nella spat through gritted teeth.

"Well, uh… Your holiness, my carriage's horse was old an-"

"Don't give me your excuses." Nella then directed her attention to the chamberlain who was bowed at the door. "You're still here?" The chamberlain bowed and left quickly. Nella pointed to a tear on her dress. The seamstress went to work quickly and efficiently, repairing the tear so well that it was almost invisible. Nella investigated the stitch.

"Hmm… Good enough." Nella reached into the folds of her robe and produced a bag of gold coins. She handed the bag to the seamstress, who accepted with many thanks, before backing out of the room. Nella was seething inwardly, looking out one of the massive windows in her room over the desert. Pegasi and Wyverns flew everywhere, carrying cargo and people both. Nella took a deep breath, before she stood in the window frame. The chamberlain returned into the doorway holding an enormous stack of papers.

"Your Grace, the latest peace treaty revises have arrived, along with the papers from Hatari whi- Miss Nella, what are you doing?"

"You can handle that." Nella said. She whistled. The chamberlain rushed to stop her. Before he was across the room, Nella jumped. In a flash of feathers, the Pegasus which had belonged to Tanith burst down out of the sky, picking Nella up and carrying her across the sky. The chamberlain ran to a bell at the door. He rang the bell four times, waited, and then rang twice. There was a loud braying, and in perfect formation the Holy Guard which consisted of 10 pegasi jumped from the rooftop and followed Nella.

Nella just held on to the Pegasus, as it was in control. Nella enjoyed the feel of wind on her face, and the cold air that nipped at her. Of course, being a fire-based mage, she didn't feel as cold as anybody else. She eyed the Holy Guard following, and gave the tip off to her Pegasus. It nodded slowly, before kicking powerfully and shooting across the sky. The Holy Guard could hardly keep up with their armor.

"That guy's kinda cute…" Nella pondered as a group of pegasi and wyverns passed to the western side of the city. She was about to jump onto his wyvern when she spotted something funny. The guy had a pure white tail! It stood out on the wyvern he rode, but there was no mistaking the white tail of a laguz. Further inspection revealed that there was a white heron flying among them! Surely these people must be important to be escorting one of heron royalty? But the orange tail on the next Pegasus tipped it off. These were the four Laguz fugitives who she had been hunting! How generous of them! She pulled her Pegasus back, and met up with the Holy Guard.

"The whole running away thing can wait. I've found some outlaws. I have an idea. Follow them." Nella said quickly as she pointed to the retreating pegasi. The guard quickly followed at a safe distance, not knowing what Nella was up to.

oOo

Nella returned to the skies holding a black and purple pouch. This thing had been hidden away for a century now, only to be brought out in dire times against any Laguz threat. There was only one of it's kind still in existence. Nella flew to the eastern part of Sienne again, where she saw the Holy Guard circling a house. Nella dropped down from her Pegasus and landed gracefully. 15 soldiers, a handful of wyverns, and a larger amount of pegasi littered the ground. Every single person on the Holy Guard had some sort of wound.

"These escorts really put up a fight…" Nella mused. She walked into the house. The women on the Holy Guard saluted the Apostle as she walked down a premade path to a room. What was in the room made the Apostle giddy. There, collapsed on the beds, were Princess Leanne of the Herons and one of the four bandits, Lief the Raven.

"Hah.. Aha.. HAHAHAA!" Nella cackled. One target down. Nella pulled out the purple pouch. Inside it was a vial containing a foul looking substance.

"I can't really harm the only remaining Heron princess… But a random raven kid? This will do." Nella put the vial to Lief's lips. The stuff flowed down his throat freely. Lief shivered and groaned, but otherwise remained unconscious. Nella smiled.

"As of today, Mr. Lief, your passport has been revoked."

She left without a trace. Not a feather on the ground, not a footprint left behind. Just a few dead wyvern riders.

**XxX**

Ren woke up to the smell of cooking fish. He had a mini panic attack as he couldn't see, before remembering his eyes were bandaged for a reason. He pawed them awkwardly, before standing up and letting his nose lead him to the fire where Saleh sat. He sniffed it appreciatively, before a wooden plate hit his hand. He grabbed it, and slowly pushed his finger across it before it reached something steaming. He grabbed a chunk of it and took a slow bite. He yipped loudly before shoving the entire fish into his mouth. Saleh laughed.

"It's good, isn't it?" Saleh smiled. Ren nodded energetically, holding his plate out for more. Saleh took his plate, to which Ren gave a wail. Saleh replaced the plate with a bowl. Ren took a cautious sip. As if automatic, Ren began rattling off herbs.

"Leek and mushroom soup, garnished with clover. There's some watercress in here, along with some watershrimp. I taste onions too." Ren sipped nonchalantly, while Saleh was stunned into silence.

"What?" Ren asked.

"How could you tell what I put into it?" Saleh asked.

"I lived in a desert where no animals lived. I know my way around plants." Ren said. Saleh waited until he finished the soup, before taking the bowl. He handed him a small wooden cup. Ren drank that.

"Ginseng tea… With nutmeg and ground up black root."

"Yeah." Saleh said. As Ren supped the small cup, three voices whispered from the nearby bushes.

"Ya' sure this is 'em? The hooded one looks more like 'n elder man ta me." One said.

"Take a gander at them eyes! Red? It 'as to be." The second said.

"Get busy then." The third said. The first one nodded, and grabbed a vial from his pocket. He smashed the vial against his arrow tip, much to his companion's dismay. He held his breath, and with one easy shot, he put the arrow straight into the camp.

"Get down!" Saleh yelled. He dragged Ren down, and the arrow passed over the small table Saleh had set up. Saleh blasted winds into the woods, and, hearing the screams of the three, sat down and poured himself a tea. He didn't notice, but the arrow had dropped a blackish liquid into the pot of tea Saleh had prepared. Saleh poured himself one of the cups. Ren had a second filling himself. As both took large swigs, Ren raised an eyebrow.

"Did you add something?" Saleh frowned.

"No.. I…" The cup fell from his hand. Saleh reached towards his bag, but his hand fell limp before he could reach it.

"Ren… Stay awake…" Ren was beginning to get droopy eyed.

"Saleh… Wha-…" Ren became unable to speak. Saleh looked as the three walked up, ropes in hand.

"This is him. Saleh, they call him." Saleh fought to stay awake. He looked over his shoulder and saw Ren holding onto his sword with an iron grip, even as all his motor skilled failed and his brain shut down.

"Who… Are you?" Saleh asked as he felt his mind slowly ebbing away.

"Me name has likkle importance. Yer goin straight to Sienne's jail." Saleh produced a small ember from his hand, but it died out quickly. His hands dropped. As his vision faded, the only thing he could mutter was,

"Damn…"

As the leader tied up Saleh, his two partners poked Ren's unconscious body slowly.

"Whadda we do with this 'un, mate?" One of them said.

"It don't matter, mate. He'll die on his own soon." The first said a she swung Saleh's prone body over his shoulder with little effort. The three carried Saleh off east to Begnion. Ren groaned in his sleep.

"R… R… Aghhh…" Ren moaned in his sleep.

Ren was awake. He stood up, looking around. The forest looked unfamiliar. Ren looked up into the sky. In seconds he was there. He looked down. The clouds raced below him. Everywhere he looked, there were clouds. He looked up, and in front of him was a familiar figure.

"Get up, kid. You've got better things to be doing." The man said, his black hair billowing behind him. The black cloak he wore was trimmed with green and gold, and his pants were no different. Ren raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" Ren asked.

"I said, GET UP!" The man roared.

Ren gasped. His eyes opened. His body refused to move.

"Ashunera… Help…" Ren said. Far across the continent, the Tower of Guidance lit up. Far across the continent, somebody heard his call. Far across the continent, somebody answered.

**XxX**

The man stepped out of his ship. His Summoner's robes were far beyond dirty, but he was fine. He had let two humans escape, but he was sure that nothing bad would come from it. That was a mishap he could overlook. He surveyed the landscape of Kilvas with a deadly smile. He had hordes of monsters at his beck and call. He had narrowly escaped defeat years ago, and had suddenly found this place. He had no idea where he was, but he was sure that the residents had never seen anything like what he had at his disposal.

Purple hair waving behind him, he walked up to the castle which Kilvas called its capital. He walked up to the throne, which had black, white, and brown feathers on top, symbolizing the unity of the three bird tribes. The man sniffed the feathers. His stomach growled loudly. He snapped his fingers, and a large spider brought in a silk-wrapped raven laguz. The laguz cried softly at the sight of the purple haired man.

"Do you know what I came here for?" The man asked the laguz. The laguz could only shake his head in fear and hope for the best. The purple haired man walked to the window, where he surveyed the wreckage of his ship. The monsters crawled in and out, carrying what little supplies there were to dry land. The man turned back to the laguz, who cowered in fear. The man crouched in front of the raven, his deep purple eyes boring into the man's very soul. The raven screamed.

"I came here to find a new house, and I came here to eat. I found my new house. Now what's next on the list?" He whispered into the man's ear. Realization dawned on the raven and he began to struggle, but all in vain. The man's hand dropped, and thousands of skeleton archers waiting at the door turned the raven into a pincushion. The man produced a tiny spider from his robes.

"Get me a drink." He released it. The tiny spider made its way down to the dead raven, and began to fill itself with blood. The spider made its way back up to the man. The man picked it up and popped it into his mouth. The tiny spider squealed slightly, but otherwise gave no resistance. The juices dribbled down his chin. He released more of the tiny spiders. As they went down to the raven, he smiled.

_"Aah… It's good to be king."_


	9. Chapter 9

**As always, the chapter is full of references to everything that's ever existed. Not much to say here, unusually. Chapter's down there, so go for it. Warning: This story takes place AFTER PoR and RD, so there WILL be spoilers. Warning 2: All the loose plot ends in this story will be tied up in Ch. 10. As planned.**

**Um, I'm sorry if my updates take longer than usual. Let's just say...that high school homework takes way too much out of me. So, please bare with me people! D:  
>Yeah, I love you guys so much. Hehe, I can't wait for Fire Emblem Awakening. It is going to be the greatest thing since Kaito and Len Kagamine from Vocaloid. XD<strong>

**Anti-Entitlement: I daresay that this group owneth not the general concept of Fire Emblem**

**XxX**

_**Narrator: Saleh has been captured by bounty hunters hoping to cash in on the massive bounty on his head. Ren is left all alone in the Crimean-Gallian mountains. Meanwhile, Mika, Lupi, Cius and Amy all make their way to the Grann desert, leaving Lief and Leanne in the hands of Nella. However, the Grann Desert has been affected by some strange affliction…**_

"By the Goddess, what is _that?"_ Amy said as the troupe approached the desert. A massive dome of dark clouds covered the desert area. The pegasi' brayed nervously, and Ambrose snorted loudly as his entire body shook.

"I have no clue…" Lupi squinted at the black sky.

"The Grann desert, duh." Ranulf said, even as he nervously gripped the Pegasus. Mika silently stared on. Cius whispered something to Amy, and Amy pulled her wyvern down.

"You sure about this?" Lupi asked Amy as they sped towards the cloud at an alarming rate.

"Sure am." Cius confirmed.

"Let's do this, then." Lupi said. Ambrose plunged into the darkness. Everyone's heart skipped a beat. They immersed to a world completely different than that which they left weeks ago. The sky was dark purple. What little grew there was barren and black. Lupi and Mika jumped off of the pegasi and shifted simultaneously, and hit the ground running. Ranulf followed suit, and the pegasi just stuck to the air.

As soon as the two reached their house, they knew something was amiss. Lupi unshifted.

"You smell that Mika?" He asked. Mika unshifted as well.

"I do, but I'm not exactly sure what it is…" They entered through the front door.

Ranulf walked in behind.

"Smells like dead people." Ranulf watched them enter room by room. "Hey, guys. You wouldn't happen to have a basement would you?" Mika leaned out of Ren's doorway and nodded, pointing to a hallway that led underground. Ranulf approached the basement carefully. He descended the steps crouching, fists put up defensively.

"Somebody's been here…" Lupi said. He sniffed his bed. Mika was in her room, collapsed on her bed. She failed to notice the blood that was hardly covered by the grass mat.

"Who would come to the Grann desert?" Mika sighed from her room, snuggling into the bed.

"Nobody… Unless someone was already here…" Lupi pondered.

"HOLY SATORI!" Ranulf cried from the basement. There was a feral growl, indicating Ranulf's transformation.

"Urrrrrngh…" Came a low drawn moan from the basement. Mika and Lupi bounded down the stairs. The underground spring cast a faint glow on the battle taking place. Ranulf pounced and gave a clawed kick to the face of what seemed to be a weaponless beorc… But closer inspection revealed some sort of mutated man with claws relatable to Ranulf's, and fangs relatable to a Tiger's. The beast recoiled from Ranulf's kick, but otherwise remained standing. Lupi leaped into the fray with fangs bared, slicing straight through the monster and felling it instantly. Mika saw the blood gleaming in the dim light.

"Ranulf! Are you okay?" She said.

"Yeah, this isn't mine. It was that thing's." Lupi knelt and sniffed the blood from the being.

"This isn't beorc blood…" Lupi shuddered.

"But that thing didn't look like a Laguz…" Mika said.

"It's not a Laguz either." Silence reigned in the underground lake. There was a deafening Pegasus bray outside the house.

"Cius…" Mika breathed.

The three Laguz dashed up the stairs and out of the doors.

xXx

"What the flying units?" Ranulf exclaimed. The Pegasi riders and Amy were flying in circles, surrounded by beasts similar to the creature in the basement. Cius was on the ground, ringed in on every side. The beasts refrained from attacking. Every time Ambrose or one of the pegasi would try to dip and grab Cius up, a creature would leap up, dealing a massive amount of damage. One of the zombies, a green color rather than the others' purple, opened its mouth, revealing rows of razor sharp, if rotten, teeth.

"Hss… Do you fear ussss, mortal? Are you tired? Allow us to give you eternal resssst…"

"Cius!" Mika yelled. Cius's grey eyes opened…

_**SHING**_!

"I'm beyond tired. I'm beyond scared. I'm standing at the mouth of Hell and it'll swallow me whole…"

…and in seconds his Killing Edge was held in the air. His cloak was tossed into the air, revealing light armor covering only his chest.

"Woah…" Mika breathed.

"**And it'll choke on me."**

Cius roared. The beasts all charged. The three ground Laguz shifted and charged into the masses, attempting to reach Cius. There was no need, however. Cius had been filled with wrath. His blade twirled expertly throughout the air, dealing one single slice to every enemy it touched, for one cut was all that was needed.

"Parry, thrust, slash. Parry, thrust, slash." Cius recited to himself. Everywhere he went, blood followed. His ponytail came undone, and his blonde hair waved wildly about as it tried to keep up with the speed he moved. The horde of creatures threw themselves upon him, each one attempting to get a hit in, and each one still failing to land a blow on the Swordsmaster. As Cius's speed somehow passed the speed of light, he disappeared, though the creatures falling to cuts all around made note of his presence. Lupi, Mika, and Ranulf were only able to take down a few of the hundreds of creatures. The rest fell to Cius. As the last one was knocked out, there was a whooshing noise, and Cius landed. All the Laguz reverted and all flying units descended, correspondingly.

"Ahaaaa…" Cius breathed before he keeled over sideways. Mika caught him, preventing him from landing amongst the carnage.

"Cius! Are you okay?" She yelled unnecessarily into his face. She shook his unconscious body. "CIUS!" Amy leapt from her wyvern.

"He'll be fine. He just needs some rest." Amy hauled Cius to one of the pegasi.

"Take him back to the house." The Pegasus rider nodded and they rode off. "Go with her." Amy commanded to the rest of the pegasi. They all followed wordlessly.

"So what were those things?" As Amy finished, there was a howl from across the desert. The black air choked the call entirely, but a certain Laguz felt his heart tugged towards the caller.

"Someone needs my help." Lupi stated simply. The call seemingly willed him to go towards it. Ranulf's jaw dropped.

"That howl… It can only be…"

"Again?" Mika breathed, unhappy with the frequent life-and-death battles which she had never really been a part of.

"Let's go then. Us five, we should be fine." Amy said. Lupi needed no second bidding. He shifted, and the very desert sand itself appeared to boost him forward. Ranulf and Mika, though normally much faster than Lupi, could not keep up with him. His newly silver mane streaked through the black air, almost purifying it. Amy flew low to the ground, fearing what would happen if she approached the thick black cloud dome around the desert.

xXx

A horde of creatures who's numbers were about twice the size of that which attacked Cius was crowding around a desert dune. A small hole was inside the dune, and a handful of beorc compared to the horde poured out of the hole, seemingly ringing around it. They brandished all manner of weaponry, covering the entire weapon triangle.

Making their own ring were two wolves, one of which was a pure white, and the other of which was a brownish-black. The white one moved near the speed Cius did, bouncing back and forth between opponents in what could only be known as the wolves' occult skill, Savage. The other simply plowed through all that dared get near it, making sure to keep the white one's back covered. Lupi spotted the wolves from the top of a dune. He howled loudly, making his presence known. Lupi covered the gap between them in seconds, striking the back of the horde like a tornado.

"Daaaamn…" Amy mused as her wyvern brought her in close enough for her lance to reach the enemy. Ranulf and Mika began their way to the circle of beorc protecting the dune.

"Gallians… We couldn't be more grateful at this time. All we need is to hold out until our leader gets here…" One of the axe wielding beorcs said.

"No problem!" Ranulf managed to say with his cat vocal chords. Ranulf then growled to Mika in cat language.

"_Wolf queen Nailah? What is she doing out here?"_

"_That's the wolf queen?" Mika replied._

"_Yup. And that's Volug. Also… Mika…"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_I don't think these are Beorc."_

"_Well no duh. Have you ever seen Beorc with those teeth?" Mika replied._

"_No… These people. They're all branded."_

"_Branded? But Ren doesn't smell like these people…"_

"_Maybe… It's because Ren isn't usually around other Branded."_

"_Yeah…"_

The fighting went on for a few more minutes like this, when a shocking turn occurred. Skeletons began appearing in the midst of the other zombie-like creatures, firing arrows at the defenders. The tide turned swiftly. Unlike the slashes, arrows stuck to the body, impeding movement. More and more of the defenders began to fall, and less came to replace them. The Queen of Wolves suffered from the same loss as the King of Lions, having too much blood caked to her fur.

Just as their situation fell to beyond repair, a light shone from within the dune. Long green hair having changed little with age, one of those who had been chosen to enter the Tower of Guidance appeared. His blessed sword raised high; he sparked with an aura similar to that of Cius. There was a loud slicing noise, and just like that, the entire army of the undead was wiped to oblivion. With a cocky smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, he walked from where the last zombie fell. Vague Katti swinging at his side, he greeted Ranulf warmly. The wolf queen reverted, she also being part of the "chosen ones".

"Well, would you look at that. It's like a family reunion." Ranulf smiled.

"Listen here. I have no desire to be part of this 'family reunion." Nailah bluntly stated.

"But then you'll miss family game night!" The green haired man replied.

"It's nice to see you too, Stefan." Nailah replied.

**xXx yakkai ni karamitsuku ase o xXx**

Ren stood up. Beside him was a tall lady with long orange hair. His instinct kicked in and he knelt, feeling a powerful aura from the woman.

"Ashunera…" He said without even needing to think about it.

"Stand Ren. Your family needs you." Ashunera told him. "Woah, kid, your breath is _horrid!_"

"I know… It started like this a few days ago…" Ashunera laughed.

"You're just growing up. Anyway, time do what I came to do. Ren, inside you sleeps a great power. It's up to me to wake it up. I need you to lead my army against this threat that should have been wiped out by the floods."

"What?"

"Just shut up and take my blessing!" Ashunera yelled. Ren was covered in a blue aura. It flared greatly, covering Ren.

"RRrrrrrRRRGHH!" Ren wailed as the flames tore the robes off of his body, replacing them with lighter, blessed garb. As the flames died down, Ashunera began to clap.

"Congratulations Ren! You are no longer a Myrmidon! I have made you into something stronger. I will call you… Ashunera's Acolyte! Or maybe just an Acolyte for short…" Ren felt much lighter than he used to.

"Where are my robes?"

"I removed them. I think they're just deadweight." Ashunera summoned up a wall of watery air, making a makeshift mirror of sorts.

"I can't see…" Ren moaned. Ashunera clicked her teeth. She removed the bandages from his eyes.

"What are you talking about? You can see perfectly!" Ren gasped as the world burst into the bright colors of the rolling hills overlooking the western part of the Serenes forest. The greens and browns and whites that he had missed sorely

His blue robes were gone, and thus nothing was covering his torso save for sleeveless black undershirt. His sheath had been moved to his back, along with a second sheath and another sword. His pants remained otherwise unchanged, still being blue and black. His blue shoes had been tipped in metal.

"What's with the second sword?"

"That, my child, is the Qudshu, the blade of the it a gift. I also took the liberty of re-forging your Dentan. It shall now be called Hathor." She said brightly.

"But-"

"Yes, I have also given you strength enough to wield both swords at the same time.

"You mean like… Altina?" Ren asked hopefully.

"Sure! More or less, you're a hero now~!" She sang.

"That's way past cool." Ren said. Then he thought for a moment. "But where am I supposed to go from here?"

Ashunera cleared her throat. "Look beyond what you see." She said in her deepest voice possible. Ren's vision suddenly expanded, and it was as if he was speeding through the forests, the plains, the towns, all the way from Crimea, until he was in Sienne. He saw a massive building, presumably a cathedral, with a large pointy top. It looked about as important as all the other buildings, but something about this one drew Ren's attention. As quickly as it had begun, it ended, leaving Ren dumbstruck.

"So where are you going?" She asked wisely.

"I'm… going to the big pointy house?" Ren asked.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" She countered.

"I'm going to the big pointy house… I'M GOING TO THE BIG POINTY HOUSE!"

"More or less…"

"Thank you! I'll be going now!" Ren said, turning to run in the general direction of Sienne.

"Bye now!" Ashunera said, disappearing into flames. She gave Ren one final push, shooting him across the mountains and into Serenes territory. As he descended towards the ground, a Heron shot into the sky and caught him, bringing him down.

"Just got finished meeting with the goddess, ey?" Reyson said as he placed Ren on the ground.

"How'd you know?"

"The only way anybody finds out anything anymore. Through a dream." Reyson replied simply. "It would seem as though she fixed your eyes. Where's Saleh?"

"No, she said my eyes were fine. That's odd, Saleh said-" Realization dawned on Ren.

"Saleh lied? But… but I really couldn't see!"

"You must have had temporary blindness from the flash. Saleh wrapped your eyes before it could wear off."

"W…w-why would Saleh lie?" Rent teared up.

Woah there, kiddo. I'm sure he had a good reason. Speaking of which, where is he?"

"Somewhere on the way to Begnion's imperial prison, it would seem." Ren replied.

"Well, you'd better find him, quick. Good luck."

Ren nodded. With some directional assistance from Reyson, he was on his way to Sienne, in hopes of intercepting Saleh. Rafiel and Lehran, who was holding a sending stone, glided in to watch Ren leave.

"Brother, we have a message from Leanne. She's gravely injured, and one of the young ones is missing." Reyson turned.

"Rafiel, you must stay here with father. Lehran and I will travel. Where does she lie?"

"In Sienne's lower district." Lehran replied.

"Brother, you must be careful. You know how Begnion still feels about Herons."

"Lehran will be with me. We will be fine." Reyson gave a low pitched whistle. In seconds, Naesala had appeared.

"What's up? Did I miss another family reunion?" Naesala asked.

"Leanne is injured, and the young raven one has been presumably taken by Begnion." Reyson relayed as he took in his last few breaths of Serenes air. He removed his ornate crown, handed it to Rafiel, and placed his old band across his head. Naesala sighed.

"What are we waiting for?"

"You to stop asking questions. I just sent the young branded one off towards Begnion. We could meet up with him." Reyson said.

"Let's go then." Naesala said. He flew off in Ren's direction, Lehran and Reyson following behind. Rafiel began to preen his feathers, watching the three disappear. He gave them one final glance before his wings stretched and he took off towards the center of the forest, where the united-bird-tribe palace lay.

"Esse tutum, nepos." He said as a silent prayer

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